HOME  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 


I 


Ot9o^r^»d 


^Dccl'^ 


PRESENTED  BY 


THE  HISTORY  CLASSES  OF      i.';;#.2.1.'s-.l.^.i; £ 


Kl^t  /  /^u^. 


HOME   UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
OF  MODERN  KNOWLEDGE 

No.  78 


Editors: 

HERBERT    FISHER,  M.A.,  F.B.A. 
Prof.    GILBERT    MURRAY.  LlTT  D 

LL.D.,   F.B.A. 
Prof.  J.   ARTHUR    THOMSON,  M.A. 
Prof.  WILLIAM    T.  BREWSTER,  M.A. 


A  complete  classified  list  of  the  volumes  of  The 
Home  University  Library  already  published 
will  be  found  at  the  back  of  this  book. 


LATIN  AMERICA 

BY 

WILLIAM   R.  SHEPHERD 

PROFESSOR  OF  HISTORY  IN   COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  ;    HONORART 
PROFESSOR    IN    THE    UNIVERSITY    OF    CHILE  ;    CORRESPOND- 
ING   MEMBER    OF    THE     SPANISH    ROYAL    ACADEMY    OF 
HISTORY,  OF  THE  ARGENTINE  SCIENTIFIC  SOCIETY 
AND  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ACADEMY  OF  HISTORY 
OF     VENEZUELA  ;     MEMBER     OF     THE 
HISPANIC  SOCIETY  OF  AMERICA 


NEW  YORK 
HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 

LONDON 
WILLIAMS  AND  NORGATE 


COPYKIGHT,  I9I4, 

BY 

HENRY    HOLT  AND    COMPANT 


MBRARY 

UNIVEFSrii  Ox'^  (>  -vr:  FORMA 


PREFACE 


"Latin  America"  is  a  geographical  ex- 
pression applied  to  twenty  republics  in  the 
New  World.  Eighteen  of  them  have  arisen 
from  Spanish  origins,  and  hence  are  known 
collectively  as  "Spanish  America."  Of  the 
other  two,  Brazil  has  sprung  from  Portu- 
guese settlement,  and  Haiti  owes  its  exist- 
ence to  France. 

The  present  work  is  intended  to  serve  as 
an  introduction  to  the  study  of  the  various 
republics  in  Latin  America.  Given  the 
small  amount  of  space  that  is  available,  to 
treat  each  country  in  separate  fashion  would 
be  to  compile  a  statistical  summary.  Since 
the  group  of  states  is  numerically  large  and 
their  points  of  resemblance,  on  the  whole, 
are  greater  than  their  points  of  difference, 
to  emphasize  their  individuality  throughout 
would  be  as  difficult  a  performance  as  that 
of  trying  to  satisfy  each  state  that  full  jus- 
tice was  being  shown  it  in  comparison  with 
its  fellows.  After  all,  the  existence  of  twenty 
republics,  as  such,  is  less  important  than  is 


vi  PREFACE 

the  evidence  of  what  they  have  done  to 
merit  attention. 

Unfair  and  erroneous  notions,  which  are 
only  too  prevalent  about  the  lands  of 
Latin  America,  are  best  dispelled  by  bring- 
ing forward  the  proofs  of  civilization.  To 
this  end  institutions  and  culture  should  be 
made  the  touchstone  that  determines  ap- 
preciation. As  exemplified  in  the  colonial 
period,  they  will  reveal  the  kind  of  equip- 
ment with  which  the  republics  started  on 
their  career.  As  exemplified  by  one  state 
or  another  since  that  time,  they  will  indicate 
the  extent  to  which  any  given  republic  has 
advanced  to  the  forefront  of  nations  that 
have  a  direct  share  in  the  general  progress 
of  mankind,  or  has  lagged  behind  them. 
For  these  reasons  the  contents  of  the  book 
have  been  arranged,  in  the  main,  so  as  to 
describe  phases  of  civilization,  and  to  draw 
from  one  country  or  another  illustrations  of 
similarities,  or  of  differences,  in  character, 
spirit  and  attainment. 

W.  R.  S. 


CONTENTS 

PART   I 

The  Colonies 
chap.  paob 

I    The  Expansion  op  Spain  and  Pobtuqal   .    .  0 

II    Government 19 

ni    Social  Obganization 29 

rV    Economic  Conditions 38 

V    The  Church 49 

VI    Intellectual  and  Artistic  Status  .....  59 

PART  n 

The  Repttblics 

Vn    Independence 69 

Vni     National  Development 81 

IX    International  Relations 96 

J    X    Geography  and  Resources 107 

)    XI    Social  Characteristics 121 

'   Xll    Political  and  Financlal  Situation     ....  141 

XIII  Industry 154 

XIV  Commerce 168 

vn 


vUi  CONTENTS 

CUM'.  PAGE 

XV      THANaPOBTATIO.V 179 

X\  I    Education 192 

XVII     Public  Charitv  axd  Social  Service    .    .    .  204 

XVIII     SaENCu 208 

XrX     JouRN.vusu 215 

XX     Literature 227 

XXI     KiNE  Arts 241 

Appkndix:  Area  and  Population 251 

Suggestions  to  Readers 252 

I.NDfLX 253 

Map Facing  8 


LATIN  AMERICA 

PART  I 
THE   COLONIES 

CHAPTER  I 

THE   EXPANSION   OF   SPAIN   AND    PORTUGAL 

The  largest  of  the  islands  visited  by  Colum- 
l)us  in  his  first  voyage  wasj^nown  to  its  na- 
tive inhabitants  as  "Haiti.  '  This  name  he 
changed  forthwith  to  "Espanola,"  or  Hispa- 
niola,  abbreviated  from  "Tierra  espaiiola"  or 
"  Spanish  Land."  Here  Columbus  proceeded 
to  establish  a  town  called  "Navidad"  (Christ- 
mas), which  was  destroyed  by  the  natives 
soon  after  he  returned  to  Spain.  The  first  per- 
manent European  settlement  was  not  founded 
until  1496.  This  was  the  city  of  Santo  Dom- 
ingo, a  name  that  was  often  applied  later  to 
the  entire  island,  and  to  the  eastern  and  west- 
em  divisions  of  it,  separately,  as  well. 

The  voyages  of  Columbus  and  of  the  men 
who  followed  in  his  wake  under  the  banners 
of  Spain  and  Portugal,  between  1493  and 
1503,  led  to  the  discovery,  not  only  of  the 
islands  of  the  West  Indies,  but  of  the  At- 
lantic mainland  of  North  and  South  America, 
9 


10  LATIN  AMERICA 

all  the  way  from  what  is  now  Honduras  to 
Uruguay.  In  this  course  of  action  Portugal 
had  relatively  little  share.  An  agreement 
between  the  two  Iberian  powers,  in  1494, 
had  provided  for  a  "demarcation  line," 
running  from  pole  to  pole  and  extending 
370  leagues  west  of  the  Azores  Islands. 
The  Spanish  area  of  activity  was  to  lie  to 
the  westward  and  the  Portuguese  to  the 
eastward  of  this  line.  It  happened,  how- 
ever, that,  in  1500,  a  Portuguese  expedi- 
tion bound  for  India  went  so  far  out  of  its 
course  that  it  reached  the  northeastern  coast 
of  South  America.  This  fact,  added  to  the 
rights  conferred  by  the  "demarcation  line" 
which,  though  never  actually  run,  un- 
doubtedly would  have  cut  through  the 
eastern  part  of  the  southern  continent,  gave 
Portugal  its  claim  to  the  present  Brazil. 
But  as  Portugal  was  absorbed  at  the  time  in 
the  development  of  its  trade  with  India  and 
the  regions  beyond,  the  immediate  work  of  col- 
onization in  the  New  World  was  left  to  Spain. 
So  far  as  the  West  Indies  were  concerned. 
Spain  confined  its  area  of  occupation  to  the 
four  large  islands.  Expeditions  from  His- 
paniola  took  possession  of  Porto  Rico  in 
1508,  of  Jamaica  in  1509  and  of  Cuba  in 
1511.  As  time  went  on  Cuba  became  the 
most  important  of  them  all.  A  fertile  soil 
gave  it  commercial  value,  and  its  location 


EXPANSION,  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL    11 

made  it  strategically  the  key  to  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico.  Certain  points,  also,  along  the 
coast  of  what  is  now  Venezuela  were  occu- 
pied from  Hispaniola  between  1523  and 
1527.  Twenty  years  later,  after  a  futile  at- 
tempt at  colonization  by  a  German  bank- 
ing-house, the  Welser  of  Augsburg,  to  whom 
the  region  had  been  assigned  as  a  fief,  it 
became  definitely  a  Spanish  province. 

Though  settlements  had  been  made  on 
the  Caribbean  coast  of  southern  Central 
America  as  early  as  1509,  it  was  not  until 
after  Balboa  had  discovered  the  Pacific 
Ocean  that  active  interest  began  to  be 
ghown  in  its  development.  In  1519  the  seat 
of  government  was  shifted  across  the  isthmus 
to  Panama.  From  this  point  expeditions  were 
despatched  to  the  northward,  which  laid  the 
foundations  of  Spanish  power  in  the  present 
Costa  Rica  (1523)  and  Nicaragua  (1525). 

Towns  began  to  spring  up,  also,  along  the 
Caribbean  shore  of  what  is  now  Colombia. 
From  one  of  these  an  expedition,  sent  out 
in  1536,  effected  within  two  years  the  con- 
quest of  a  large  part  of  the  interior. 

Meanwhile  the  Spanish  arms  had  won 
laurels  far  more  brilliant.  As  a  result  of 
explorations  from  Cuba,  in  1517  and  1518, 
news  was  brought  of  the  wondrous  civiliza- 
tion of  the  state  ruled  by  a  native  people 
known    as    "Aztecs,"    on    the    plateau    of 


n  LATIN  AMERICA 

Andhuac  in  the  central  portion  of  the  pres- 
ent Mexico.  Forthwith  all  available  re- 
sources were  called  into  play  to  equip  a  for- 
midable array  of  fighting  men  who  should 
win  this  realm  for  Spain.  Under  the  leader- 
ship of  a  young  soldier  of  fortune,  named 
Hernando  Cortes,  a  struggle  began,  in  1519, 
which  ended  two  years  later  in  the  complete 
subjugation  of  the  Aztecs  and  their  con- 
federates. The  course  of  conquest  was  then 
carried  southward  into  what  are  now  Guate- 
mala, Salvador  and  Honduras.  By  1525 
all  three  of  these  areas  had  become  more  or 
less  subject  to  Spanish  control. 

Rumors  borne  to  Panama  of  a  southern 
dominion  called  "Birii"  (Peru),  the  wealth 
and  splendor  of  which,  under  the  sway  of 
the  "Incas,"  were  said  to  resemble  those  of 
Aztec  Mexico,  stirred  Francisco  Pizarro,  a 
former  comrade  of  Balboa,  to  emulate  the 
achievements  of  Cortes.  In  1531  he  suc- 
ceeded in  gathering  the  necessary  force,  and 
by  the  end  of  the  following  year  had  gained 
possession  of  the  coveted  region.  From 
Peru  as  a  center  his  lieutenants  widened  the 
Spanish  domain  northward,  eastward  and 
southward,  by  the  issue  of  their  campaigns 
in  the  present  Ecuador  (1533),  Bolivia 
(1538)  and  Chile  (1540). 

About  the  same  time  a  futile  effort  to 
rival  the  feat  of  Pizarro  was  made  in  the 


EXPANSION,  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL    13 

lands  to  the  southeast  of  his  general  zone  of 
conquest.  Its  net  result  was  the  planting 
of  a  Spanish  settlement  in  what  is  now  Para- 
guay (1536) .  Seventeen  years  later  the  defini- 
tive colonization  of  the  present  Argentine 
Republic  was  begun  in  the  northwest  by  an 
expedition  from  Chile,  and,  in  1580,  along  the 
River  Plate  (La  Plata),  by  one  from  Spain. 
By  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century 
the  work  of  the  Spanish  "  conquistadores " 
(conquerors)  had  been  substantially  accom- 
plished. Their  motives,  and  those  of  the 
men  in  general  who  entered  upon  the  earher 
exploration,  conquest  and  colonization  of 
the  New  World,  may  be  summed  up  in  the 
three  words  "gospel,  glory  and  gold."  Provi- 
dence, it  would  seem,  had  bestowed  upon 
Spain  a  huge  dominion  overflowing  with  a 
wealth  beyond  the  wildest  dreams,  abound- 
ing in  the  possibilities  of  exploits  that  would 
bring  fame  to  the  adventurous  as  well  as 
grandeur  to  their  country,  and  teeming  with 
heathen  peoples  to  be  converted  to  the  true 
faith  and  given  the  blessings  of  civilization. 
Romance  and  reality  stirred  the  soul  of  the 
Spaniards  to  deeds  of  strength  and  valor 
almost  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  man- 
kind. Forcing  their  impetuous  way  through 
tropical  swamp  and  forest,  up  mighty  moun- 
tain ranges,  and  across  trackless  plains,  bat- 
tling at  every  step  with  savage  nature  and  still 


14  LATIN  AMERICA 

more  savage  man,  and  marring  many  an  act  of 
heroism  by  shameful  scenes  of  blood,  they  cre- 
ated for  Spain  an  empire  greater  in  extent 
than  any  that  the  world  had  ever  known. 

Despite  all  its  glamor,  what  the  process  of 
conquest  really  did  was  to  secure  certain 
strategic  points  of  vantage,  which  might 
serve  as  foundations  for  the  colonial  Spanish 
America  yet  to  be  constructed.  It  is  an 
error  to  suppose  that  what  happened  before 
1550  was  generally  true  of  the  centuries  to 
follow.  On  the  contrary,  with  very  rare 
exceptions,  the  course  of  colonial  expansion 
during  the  far  longer  period  took  the  form 
of  setting  up  an  orderly  system  of  life, 
whereby  the  relations  of  conquerors  and 
conquered  might  be  effectively  adjusted. 
Evolution  along  these  lines,  and  not  a  ro- 
mantic career  of  military  adventure,  explains 
how  Spain  consolidated  a  dominion  that 
lasted  upwards  of  three  hundred  years  and 
left  a  heritage  of  eighteen  republics. 

Although  a  few  Portuguese  convicts  had 
early  been  banished  to  the  region  of  Brazil, 
nothing  like  permanent  occupation  was  es- 
sayed there  until  after  a  number  of  French 
settlers  had  located  themselves  along  the 
northeastern  coast.  In  1530,  accordingly, 
an  expedition  was  organized  under  the  com- 
mand of  Martini  Affonso  de  Souza,  an  ex- 
perienced navigator,  to  take  formal  posses- 


EXPANSION.  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL  15 

juon  of  the  land  in  the  name  of  Portugal 
and  drive  out  the  intruders.  He  reached 
the  shores  of  Brazil  early  in  the  following 
year,  but  did  not  fix  upon  the  site  for  a 
colony  until  1532.  The  spot  chosen  was  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  country  in  what  is 
now  the  State  of  Sao  Paulo. 

About  this  time  the  coast  of  Brazil  was 
partitioned  into  twelve  feudal  "captaincies." 
The  purpose  of  the  arrangement  was  to 
awaken  interest  in  a  land  that  offered,  as 
yet,  no  evidence  that  it  contained  any  such 
wealth  in  precious  metals  as  had  fallen  else- 
where in  America  to  the  fortunate  lot  of  the 
Spaniards.  In  only  six  of  the  grants  were 
permanent  settlements  erected.  All  of  them 
lay  within  the  present  States  of  Sao  Paulo, 
Espirito  Santo,  Bahia  and  Pernambuco,  and 
constituted  the  chief  centers  from  which  the 
areas  of  colonization  in  Brazil  were  succes- 
sively widened.  Because  of  this  location  of 
the  settlements  more  or  less  independently  at 
various  points  along  the  coast,  life  in  the  Port- 
uguese colony  never  became  so  concentrated 
in  the  capital  city,  as  was  commonly  the  case 
in  Spanish  America.  Nor  did  the  processes 
of  occupation  extend  so  far  into  the  interior: 
the  size  of  the  country  forbade  it. 

Among  the  Portuguese  founders  of  Brazil 
there  were  no  empire-builders  actually  com- 
parable with  the  Spanish  "conquistadores." 


Ifl  LATIN  AMERICA 

The  same  incentives  did  not  exist.  Por- 
tugal itself  was  inferior  to  Spain  in  size  and 
strength.  Its  characteristics  and  traditions 
were  less  intense  and  less  imperialistic. 
Whatever  energies  it  possessed  found  their 
fields  of  application  mainly  in  the  East  Indies. 
No  native  states,  furthermore,  of  relatively 
high  civilization,  like  those  of  the  Aztecs  and 
the  Incas,  with  their  corresponding  riches, 
existed  anywLere  in  its  American  domain. 

The  nearest  approach  to  the  "conquista- 
dores"  was  furnished  by  the  "Paulistas," 
largely  a  racial  blend  of  Portuguese  and  In- 
dian found  within  the  area  of  Sao  Paulo. 
They  were  the  real  pioneers  of  Brazil.  Fol- 
lowing the  "bandeira,"  or  banner,  of  a 
chosen  chieftain,  and  hence  known  as  "ban- 
deirantes,"  they  fought  their  way  into  the 
interior,  in  a  search  for  Indian  slaves  and 
the  precious  metals.  On  a  much  smaller 
scale,  but  none  the  less  effectively,  their 
traits  and  achievements  bore  a  marked  re- 
semblance to  those  of  their  Spanish  compeers. 

In  1581  all  the  European  colonies  in  the 
world  became  possessions  of  the  crowTi  of 
Spain,  and  a  situation  arose  that  never  had 
existed  before,  and  has  never  been  known 
since.  Master  both  on  land  and  sea,  Philip 
II  of  Spain  and  Portugal  was  a  monarch 
whose  power  apparently  had  no  bounds. 
Of  those  days  it  could  well  be  said  that. 


EXPANSION,  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL  17 

"when  Spain  moved,  the  world  trembled.'* 
Yet  his  empire  was  too  huge,  too  loosely- 
constructed,  too  lacking  in  essential  strength, 
to  remain  long  intact.  While  it  is  true  that 
Portugal  continued  subject  to  a  Spanish 
ruler  until  1641,  the  dissolution  of  the  Por- 
tuguese dominions  began  early  in  the  same 
century.  Not  content  with  assailing  and 
appropriating  many  of  its  possessions  in  the 
Far  East,  the  Dutch  turned  their  attention 
to  Brazil.  From  1630  until  1654  they  held 
a  large  part  of  the  northeastern  section  of 
the  country,  and  did  not  yield  their  pre- 
tensions to  it  until  1661. 

Now  that  Portugal  had  recovered  its  in- 
dependence of  Spain  and  expelled  the  Dutch 
invaders,  it  proceeded  to  advance  its  do- 
minion in  Brazil  considerably  to  the  south- 
westward.  Both  Spain  and  Portugal  claimed 
the  area  between  Sao  Paulo  and  the  River 
Plate,  as  a  consequence  of  the  arrangements 
made  in  connection  with  the  "line  of  de- 
marcation." In  1680  the  Portuguese  founded 
on  that  river  the  first  settlement  within  the 
limits  of  the  present  Uruguay.  It  became  a 
source  of  constant  strife  and  irritation  be- 
tween the  two  powers.  The  Paulistas,  also, 
clashed  with  certain  Spanish  Jesuits  of 
Paraguay,  who  were  seeking  to  connect 
their  mission  settlements  eastward  with  the 
ocean. 


18  LATIN  AMERICA 

Still  another  cause  of  discord  was 
furnished,  in  1723,  when  the  Portuguese 
strengthened  their  grasp  upon  the  River 
Plate  by  establishing  an  additional  post  in 
Uruguay,  just  at  the  entrance  to  the  river. 
Three  years  later  the  post  was  seized  and 
thereafter  retained  by  Spain.  Not  until 
1777  was  an  agreement  finally  reached,  in 
accordance  with  which  the  region  of  Uru- 
guay was  recognized  as  belonging  to  Spain, 
and  the  land  to  the  eastward  of  the  Spanish 
possessions  in  general,  as  the  rightful  terri- 
tory of  Portugal. 

A  domain  so  vast  and  so  rich  as  that  held 
by  Spain  in  the  New  World  naturally  be- 
came an  object  of  envy  to  many  a  European 
rival.  Until  well  into  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, pirates,  buccaneers  and  smugglers, 
English,  Dutch  and  French,  swarmed  along 
the  coasts,  pillaging  and  destroying  vessels 
and  towns.  Repeated  efforts  were  made, 
particularly  by  the  EngUsh  on  the  Carib- 
bean side  of  Central  America,  to  gain  a 
foothold  on  the  lands  of  the  imperious 
Spaniard,  whose  weakness  at  home  seemed 
to  render  his  colonies  fit  objects  of  spoil. 
Yet  the  huge  mass  remained  almost  intact, 
and  even  became  larger  still. 

By  1786  the  Spanish  dominions  may  fairly 
be  said  to  have  reached  their  widest  bounds. 
Eastward  the  scattering  settlements  stretched 


GOVERNMENT  19 

to  Porto  Rico,  westward  to  the  present 
State  of  California,  northward  to  what  is 
now  the  State  of  Missouri,  and  southward 
to  Chile.  In  the  West  Indies,  out  of  the  four 
large  islands  only  Jamaica,  in  1655,  had 
been  lost  to  England  and,  in  1697,  western 
Hispaniola  (Saint  Domingue),  to  France. 
On  the  continents,  what  are  now  Florida, 
southern  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  all  of 
the  area  of  the  United  States,  also,  west  of 
the  Mississippi  River,  together  with  Mexico, 
Central  America  and  South  America  entire, 
except  the  Guianas  and  Brazil,  acknowledged 
the  sway  of  Spain.  And  even  so  late  as 
1810,  Spain  had  lost  no  more  than  the  re- 
mainder of  Hispaniola,  ceded  to  France  in 
1795,  the  island  of  Trinidad  and  a  part  of 
the  present  British  Honduras,  seized  by 
England  in  1797  and  1798,  respectively, 
and  the  province  of  Louisiana,  granted  to 
France  in  1802.  Such  was  the  extent  of  the 
Spanish  empire  in  America. 

CHAPTER  n 

GOVERNMENT 

At  the  time  that  Spain  and  Portugal 
started  on  their  careers  of  expansion,  "na- 
tional consciousness,"  the  idea  of  a  state 
resting  on  the  personal  rights  and  duties  of 


go  LATIN  AMERICA 

its  citizens,  was  virtually  unknowii.  To 
the  Spaniard,  for  example,  his  village,  town 
or  province  was  his  country.  What  lay  be- 
yond local  bounds  was  something  to  be  reg- 
ulated by  officials  in  whose  appointment, 
presumably,  he  had  no  choice.  An  absolute 
monarchy  and  an  absolute  church,  that 
would  safeguard  the  individual  against  a 
foreign  foe  or  an  alien  faith,  were  all  that 
could  be  desired  in  larger  concerns.  Ac- 
cordingly, whether  he  lived  in  his  native 
land  or  in  a  distant  colony,  he  was  more  or 
less  content,  so  long  as  his  local  privileges 
were  undisturbed.  The  spirit  of  individ- 
ualism was  strong,  but  its  manifestation 
worked  within  narrow  lines.  On  this  founda- 
tion Spain,  and  to  a  great  extent,  Portugal, 
based  their  respective  systems  of  colonial 
administration . 

Since  the  dominions  of  Spain  in  America, 
known  collectively  as  "The  Indies,"  had 
been  discovered  and  occupied  under  the 
auspices  of  the  kingdom  of  Castile,  the  gov- 
ernment devised  for  them  was  modeled,  so 
far  as  circumstances  might  allow,  upon  the 
institutions  of  that  realm.  Made  elaborate 
and  comprehensive  to  deal  with  the  intri- 
cate problems  involved,  it  often  displayed 
a  degree  of  precision,  uniformity  and  even 
rigidity,  which  suggested  a  Roman  inherit- 
ance.   On  the  other  hand,  following  equally 


GOVERNMENT  21 

the  Roman  principle  of  "divide  and  rule,^ 
powers,  duties  and  privileges  were  rather 
vaguely  defined,  with  the  result  that  ofii- 
cials,  classes  and  individuals  were  set  off 
deftly  against  one  another. 

No  colonial  authority  was  permitted  to 
grow  too  strong,  and  no  colonial  counter- 
poise to  become  too  weak,  to  serve  the  in- 
terests of  the  mother  country.  Every  per- 
son, whatever  his  rank  or  station,  and  every 
governing  body  enjoyed  the  privilege  of 
communicating  directly  with  the  govern- 
ment in  Spain,  and  the  exercise  of  the  privi- 
lege was  constantly  encouraged.  By  this 
means  '  temptation  to  arbitrary  conduct 
could  be  restrained,  no  less  than  expres- 
sions of  dissatisfaction  checked  or  mollified, 
which  otherwise  might  bring  on  revolt. 
Where  abuses  existed,  they  were  apt  to  take 
the  form  of  pecuniary  corruption,  rather 
than  of  wilful  misrule. 

As  a  piece  of  machinery  the  Spanish  ad- 
ministration certainly  surpassed  anything 
of  the  sort  constructed  by  the  colonial 
powers  of  the  time.  It  was  well  suited,  not 
only  to  the  Spanish  temperament,  training 
and  traditions,  but  to  the  special  purposes 
of  Spanish  domination  in  the  New  World. 
Yet  it  was  not,  and  could  not  be,  efficacious. 
The  resources  of  Spain  were  too  inadequate, 
the  conditions  under  which   the  processes 


22  LATIN  AMERICA 

of  occupation  were  carried  on  too  unfavor- 
able, the  regions  concerned  too  vast  and 
too  distant,  the  means  of  communication 
too  defective,  and  the  difficulties  of  creat- 
ing a  new  society  out  of  a  fusion  of  some 
thousands  of  Europeans  with  millions  of 
aborigines  too  profound. 

The  tasks  accordingly  imposed  upon  the 
officials  in  the  home  country  and  in  the 
colonies  were  too  complex  to  insure  satis- 
factory results.  No  matter  how  well  in- 
tentioned  the  laws  may  have  been,  the 
actual  course  of  administration  was  neces- 
sarily slow  and  cumbersome,  even  if  not 
altogether  oppressive.  Official  activities  on 
either  side  of  the  ocean  were  only  too  often 
shackled  by  red  tape  and  routine,  or  else 
smothered  under  mountains  of  docmnents. 

During  the  first  few  years  matters  relat- 
ing to  discovery,  exploration  and  coloniza- 
tion were  determined  in  accordance  with 
special  agreements,  called  "asientos"  and 
"capitulaciones,"  between  the  crown  and 
the  persons  interested  in  any  particular 
venture.  For  the  enforcement  of  the  terms 
of  these  instruments,  a  commissioner  resi- 
dent in  Spain  was  provided.  Later,  as  the 
course  of  settlement  advanced  beyond  His- 
paniola  to  the  neighboring  islands  and  thence 
to  the  mainland,  it  became  necessary  to 
create  a  more  elaborate  agency  of  controL 


GOVERNINIENT  23 

This  was  furnished  bj'^  the  "Royal  and  Su- 
preme Council  of  the  Indies." 

As  finally  constituted,  in  1542,  the  Council 
had  charge  of  all  branches  of  the  colonial 
administration.  Its  members  were  ap- 
pointed by  the  crown,  preferably  from  among 
officials  who  had  seen  service  in  America. 
Not  only  was  its  authority  complete  in  ad- 
ministrative concerns  proper,  but  it  was  a 
general  legislature  for  the  colonies,  and  a 
tribunal  of  appeal  as  well  from  the  highest 
colonial  courts.  In  every  respect  its  decrees 
and  judgments  had  the  force  of  law.  Even 
the  colonial  born,  when  living  in  the  mother 
country,  were  subject  to  its  jurisdiction. 
In  the  eighteenth  century,  however,  a  Min- 
ister of  the  Indies  was  appointed,  who  took 
over  many  of  the  important  duties  of  the 
Council,  and  acted  as  a  medium  of  commu- 
nication between  it  and  the  crown.  The  re- 
sult was  to  leave  to  the  Council  ultimately 
the  performance  of  routine  duties,  although 
its  judicial  functions  remained  intact. 

From  time  to  time  the  Council  of  the  In- 
dies sent  over  special  commissioners  called 
"visitadores,"  whose  business  it  was  to  in- 
spect all  branches  of  the  colonial  service, 
and  to  present  reports  on  what  they  found. 
Some  of  these  men  did  good  work.  In  other 
cases  the  people  "visited"  were  inclined  to 
look  for  the  departure  of  the  commissioner 


24  LATIN  AMERICA 

rather  more  anxiously  than  they  had  awaited 
his  arrival. 

The  mechanism  of  the  administration  was 
eventually  regulated  by  a  code  of  decrees 
and  ordinances,  commonly  referred  to  as 
the  "Laws  of  the  Indies"  (1680).  Dealing 
at  length  with  the  duties,  rights  and  responsi- 
bilities of  the  officials  and  of  the  colonial  in- 
habitants, the  regulations  descended  into 
so  minute  a  detail  as  to  provide  even  for 
dog-chasers  to  drive  stray  canines  out  of 
the  churches.  Heterogeneous  in  arrange- 
ment, dubious  in  phraseology  and  not  always 
in  accord  with  modern  ideas  of  justice,  the 
"Laws  of  the  Indies,"  nevertheless,  dis- 
played a  spirit  of  humanity,  a  regard  for 
the  welfare  of  Spanish  subjects  in  America 
that  was  quite  superior  to  the  legislation  of 
other  nations  for  their  own  people  oversea. 
Could  the  provisions  of  the  code  have  been 
enforced  in  a  liberal  manner,  or  even  in  many 
cases  if  the  mere  letter  of  the  laws  had  been 
carried  out,  the  colonial  system  of  Spain 
would  have  worked  harmoniously  and  bene- 
ficently for  all  concerned. 

In  the  colonies  themselves  the  extensive 
powers  granted  at  the  outset  to  Columbus 
were  soon  replaced  by  the  authority  of  local 
governors  and  later,  of  boards  of  magis- 
trates appointed  to  act  in  conjunction  with 
them.    Not  until  after  the  conquest  of  Peru 


^'government  25 

did  the  administrative  system  enter  upon 
the  complex  organization  that  it  was  to  have 
during  the  centuries  that  followed. 

The  largest  political  divisions  were  called 
viceroyalties,  of  which  the  first  to  be  estab- 
lished was  that  of  New  Spain  (1534),  with 
the  capital  at  Mexico.  It  comprised  event- 
ually all  of  the  Spanish  possessions  in  North 
America  and  the  West  Indies,  including  also 
the  Philippine  Islands.  In  1542  the  vice- 
royalty  of  Peru  was  erected,  with  the  seat 
of  government  at  Lima,  and  a  jurisdiction 
stretching  over  substantially  all  of  the  Span- 
ish dominions  in  South  America.  Later,  in 
order  to  offset  more  effectually  the  dangers 
arising  from  the  attacks  and  the  smuggling 
operations  of  foreigners,  especially  the  Eng- 
lish, two  more  viceroyalties  were  carved  out 
of  it.  These  were  New  Granada  (1739), 
corresponding  more  or  less  to  the  present 
Colombia,  Venezuela  and  Ecuador,  with 
the  capital  at  Bogota,  and  La  Plata  (1776), 
approximating  in  extent  what  are  now  the 
Argentine  Republic,  Bolivia,  Paraguay  and 
Uruguay,  and  having  Buenos  Ayres  as  its 
capital.  The  viceroyalty  of  Peru  thus  be- 
came reduced  to  Peru  proper  and  Chile. 

Each  viceroyalty  was  divided  into  prov- 
inces known  variously  as  "audiencias," 
"captaincies  general"  and  "presidencies." 
Strictly    speaking,    an    "audiencia"    was    a 


26  LATIN  AMERICA 

body  of  magistrates,  constituting  at  once  a 
supreme  court  and  a  board  of  administra- 
tion for  the  province;  but  the  designation 
was  applied  equally  to  the  area  over  which 
its  jurisdiction  extended.  If  the  area  of  an 
"audiencia"  had  a  civil  and  military  officer 
called  a  "governor  and  captain  general"  at 
its  head,  who  acted  also  as  president  of  the 
board  in  its  administrative  capacity  and 
shared  in  its  functions,  such  an  area  bore  the 
name  of  a  "captaincy  general,"  or  "presi- 
dency," along  with  that  of  "audiencia."  If, 
however,  the  board  or  court  in  question  was 
presided  over  by  a  jurist,  the  area  was  then 
termed  a  "presidency,"  in  a  narrower  sense. 

The  viceroy  himself,  though  regarded  as 
the  immediate  representative  of  the  crown, 
was  primarily  governor  and  captain  general 
of  the  area  of  the  "audiencia"  in  which  the 
capital  of  the  viceroyalty  was  located,  and 
at  the  same  time  president  of  the  board  of 
that  name.  In  his  relation  to  the  officials 
and  governing  bodies  of  high  rank  in  the 
other  provinces  of  the  viceroyalty  he  was 
practically  a  supervisor  or  moderator.  His 
authority  over  them  might  be  large  or  small 
according  to  circumstances;  but  the  ultimate 
responsibility  in  any  case  was  supposed  to 
rest  on  him  alone. 

Within  the  provinces  in  turn  lay  local 
<iistricts  to  which  the  names  "gobernaciones" 


GOVERNMENT  27 

or  "gobiernos,"  "corregimientos"  and  *'al- 
caldias  mayores"  were  assigned.  Here  the 
respective  governors,  "  corregidores "  and 
"alcaldes  mayores"  carried  on  the  ordinary 
civil  administration  under  the  direction  of 
the  provincial  authorities.  Late  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  so  as  to  assure  a  more 
effectual  supervision  of  the  minor  officials, 
the  provinces  were  divided  into  large  sec- 
tions, containing  several  of  the  local  dis- 
tricts in  question,  and  known  collectively  as 
"  intendancies."  In  them  the  intendants  and 
their  immediate  subordinates,  the  "subdele- 
gados,"  were  enabled  to  exercise  the  needful 
control.  To  these  divisions  of  the  province 
may  be  added  the  cities  and  towns,  each  gov- 
erned by  its  council  ("ayuntamiento"  or 
"cabildo"),  more  or  less  in  conjunction  with 
the  various  higher  officials,  and  the  villages, 
over  which  an  "alcalde"  held  sway. 

So  far  as  Brazil,  or  indeed  any  of  its  dis- 
tant possessions  was  concerned,  Portugal 
never  constructed  an  administrative  machine 
comparable  with  that  which  was  placed  in 
operation  by  Spain.  Even  if  it  had  been 
capable  of  doing  so,  its  colonial  interests  in 
Asia,  Africa  and  America  were  too  diverse 
to  make  the  construction  possible. 

During  the  period  of  subjection  to  Spain, 
the  administration  of  the  Portuguese  de- 
pendencies naturally  underwent  a  series  of 


28  LATIN  AMERICA 

changes  which  approximated  it  to  the  in- 
stitutions and  practices  established  in  the 
Spanish  dominions  proper.  To  a  consider- 
able extent  these  were  retained  after  Por- 
tugal had  won  its  independence. 

From  the  second  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century  the  direction  of  colonial  affairs  be- 
longed to  several  councils  or  boards  in  Lisbon, 
the  functions  of  which  were  not  clearly  dis- 
tinguishable among  themselves,  or  separable 
from  local  concerns  in  the  mother  country. 
The  Council  of  State  chose  the  members  of 
the  other  councils,  and  appointed  also  the 
political  officers  of  high  rank  in  the  provinces. 

In  Brazil  the  first  form  of  government  set 
up  was  that  of  the  feudal  principalities 
called  "captaincies."  As  originally  estab- 
lished, they  included  grants  of  land  along 
the  coast  and  stretching  vaguely  into  the 
interior.  In  these  areas  the  proprietors 
(donatarios)  were  to  exercise  almost  com- 
plete authority  over  the  colonists  and  the 
natives  alilic.  Sixteen  years  later  (1548)  a 
governor  general  was  appointed  with  his  capi- 
tal at  Bahia,  thus  inaugurating  the  system  of 
what  came  to  be  known  as  "royal  captain- 
cies," or  provinces  under  the  immediate 
jurisdiction  of  the  crown. 

After  the  overthrow  of  Spanish  nde,  the 
process  of  replacing  the  proprietorships  by 
royal  captaincies  continued  until  the  second 


SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION  29 

half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  the  work 
was  completed.  From  1763  onward  the  office 
of  viceroy  was  definitely  established,  and  the 
seat  of  government  fixed  at  Rio  de  Janeiro. 
The  captains  general,  in  charge  of  the 
separate  provinces,  frequently  evinced  a 
marked  spirit  of  independence  toward  their 
superior.  The  people  of  the  various  cap- 
taincies, similarly,  did  not  hesitate  to  oppose, 
whenever  they  could  do  so,  any  interference 
on  the  part  of  the  central  authority  in  purely 
local  concerns.  Given  the  circumstances 
under  which  many  of  the  provinces  had  been 
originally  founded,  added  to  the  lax  admin- 
istration of  the  mother  country  in  general, 
it  is  not  strange  that  the  relations  among 
them  should  have  been  much  closer  than 
was  possible  in  the  case  of  the  Spanish 
colonies. 

CHAPTER  III 

SOCIAL   ORGANIZATION 

Among  the  numerous  groups  of  aborigines 
in  the  New  World  the  grade  of  civilization 
ranged  from  utter  savagery  up  to  a  superior 
sort  of  barbarism.  The  lowest  in  the  scale 
were  nomads  and  cannibals.  Others,  like 
the  virile  Araucanians  of  Chile  or  the  gentler 
Guaranis  of  Paraguay,  carried  on  a  rude 
kind  of  agriculture,  and  dwelt  in  more  or 


so  LATIN  AMERICA 

less  permanent  communities.  Some  of  the 
natives  had  even  made  remarkable  progress 
in  the  institutions  of  an  orderly  life. 

To  the  relatively  civilized  class  belonged 
the  inhabitants  of  the  cooler  regions  of  the 
highlands  extending  from  central  Mexico  to 
southern  Peru.  Typical  of  them  were  the 
loose  confederation  of  tribes  under  the  Aztecs 
and  the  mass  of  natives  who  submitted  to 
the  yoke  of  the  Incas.  Both  had  built  upon 
foundations  laid  by  peoples  of  a  culture 
higher  than  their  own,  and  of  an  origin  alto- 
gether obscure. 

Externally  at  least,  with  its  potentates, 
priests,  nobles,  commoners,  serfs  and  slaves, 
the  social  system  of  the  Aztecs  and  the  Incas 
bore  much  resemblance  to  that  prevailing  in 
Europe  at  the  time,  or  was  made  to  appear 
so  by  the  Spanish  writers  who  described  it. 
Elaborate  forms  of  administration  had  been 
devised,  class  distinctions  had  arisen,  and 
various  arts  and  industries  flourished. 

To  this  aboriginal  element  in  America  was 
added  another  from  Africa.  Early  in  the 
sixteenth  century  negro  slaves  were  brought 
to  the  West  Indies  to  replace  the  natives  as 
laborers  on  the  plantations  and  in  the  mines. 
From  the  islands  they  soon  spread  to  the 
mainland  about  the  Caribbean  Sea. 

^Vhatever  may  be  said  of  the  conduct  of 
the  early  adventurers,  the  Spanish  govern- 


SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION  31 

ment  itself  was  very  solicitous  about  the 
welfare  of  these  two  dependent  peoples.  It 
prohibited  the  enslavement  of  the  Indians, 
and  recognized  them  legally  as  subjects  of  the 
crown,  though  standing  on  a  somewhat  lower 
plane  than  those  of  Spanish  descent.  This 
was  designed  to  protect  them  against  exploi- 
tation and  oppression,  while  it  restrained  any 
tendencies  on  their  part  to  relapse  into  the 
ways  of  barbarism.  The  laws  enjoined  the  offi- 
cials to  take  care  that  both  the  Indians  and 
the  negroes  should  be  kindly  treated.  Had 
the  enactments  been  consistently  applied,  the 
lot  of  the  humbler  folk  in  the  colonies  would 
have  been  much  happier  than  it  was. 

On  the  several  bases  of  the  native  charac- 
teristics, the  policy  of  the  home  government, 
the  conduct  of  the  individual  colonists,  and 
the  conditions  in  general  arising  out  of  the 
contact  of  Europeans,  Indians  and  Africans, 
the  Spaniards  erected  their  social  organiza- 
tion in  America.  Intermarriage  of  the  races 
was  early  established.  The  pioneers  had 
come  without  their  womankind.  Almost 
everywhere  the  Spanish  settlers  were  far 
less  numerous  than  the  natives.  Considera- 
tions of  temperament  and  climate  also  had 
their  effect.  The  Europeans,  accordingly, 
blended  with  the  Indians,  and  to  a  small 
extent  with  the  negroes,  to  form  a  new 
society.    From  the  mixture  of  the  white  and 


'H0\5 


32  LATIN  AMERICA 

the  Indian  came  the  "mestizo,"  from  that 
of  the  white  and  the  negro,  the  mulatto, 
from  that  of  the  negro  and  the  Indian,  the 
"zambo,"  and  from  the  crossings  of  these 
and  their  descendants,  an  extraordinary 
variety  of  ethnic  types,  along  with  a  nomen- 
clature for  them  that  was  bewildering. 

Although  the  physical,  mental  and  moral 
traits  of  all  these  ancestors  were  reproduced 
to  some  degree,  and  although  the  European 
element  on  the  whole  remained  dominant, 
the  racial  foundation  in  colonial  Spanish 
America  was  not  European  but  Indian. 
Only  in  the  southern  part  of  South  America 
did  the  Spaniards  keep  their  blood  relatively 
free  from  contact  with  that  of  the  natives. 
This  was  due,  partly  to  climatic  and  eco- 
nomic considerations,  partly  to  the  relatively 
smaller  number  of  the  aborigines  and  to  the 
extermination  of  a  few  of  the  tribes,  and 
partly  to  the  fact  that  the  country  occupied 
was  large  enough  to  make  it  possible  for  the 
two  social  factors  to  remain  fairly  separate. 
Regarding  the  precise  number  of  the  popula- 
tion in  Spanish  America  at  large,  the  esti- 
mates for  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century 
range  from  12,000,000  to  19,000,000,  of 
which  the  percentage  of  whites,  or  of  those 
who  passed  for  whites,  in  any  given  colony 
was  probably  somewhere  between  one  eighth 
and  two  fifths. 


SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION  33 

Of  this  population  the  bulk  was  found 
outside  of  the  distinctly  tropical  regions. 
Except  where  commercial  connections  might 
require  otherwise,  the  Spaniards  settled  in 
the  upland  areas.  Because  of  the  cooler 
and  more  healthful  climate,  and  as  a  measure 
of  security  against  attacks  from  European 
enemies,  they  erected  most  of  their  towns 
and  villages  on  sites  thousands  of  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea,  and  well-nigh  inaccessi- 
ble from  the  coast. 

Towns  like  Potosi  in  the  silver-mining 
district  of  what  is  now  Bolivia,  with  its 
population  at  one  time  of  160,000,  Mexico, 
Guatemala,  Lima,  Buenos  Ayres,  Caracas 
and  Havana  were  all  distinguished  for  their 
wealth  and  splendor.  Potosi,  in  particular, 
and  later,  Mexico,  were  beyond  doubt  the 
finest  cities  in  the  New  World. 

Among  the  inhabitants  of  town  and  coun- 
try two  main  classes  developed.  To  the 
first  of  these  belonged  the  native  Spaniards 
and  the  Creoles,  i.  e.,  whites  born  m  America, 
and  those  of  mixed  descent  who  traced  their 
ancestry  to  Spaniards  and  to  the  families  of 
Lidian  chieftains.  Below  them  came  the 
heterogeneous  mass  of  half  castes  in  whom 
the  percentage  of  Spanish  blood  was  small, 
and  the  great  body  of  the  Indians  and  ne- 
groes. Europeans  not  of  Spanish  stock  were 
exceedingly  rare.   For  a  while  even  Spaniards 


34  LATIN  AMERICA 

other  than  Castilians  were  forbidden  to  go 
to  America.  Because  of  religious,  economic 
and  political  reasons,  foreigners  were  not 
welcome.  Heretics  of  course  could  not  be 
tolerated;  the  mineral  wealth  of  the  New 
World  was  too  precious  to  share  with  out- 
siders, and  the  huge  extent  of  the  Spanish 
dominions,  compared  with  the  size  and 
strength  of  Spain  itself,  made  a  policy  of 
exclusion  desirable. 

True  to  the  traditions  of  the  mother  coun- 
try, positions  in  the  government,  the  church 
and  the  army  were  eagerly  sought  by  the 
members  of  the  upper  class.  The  enjoyment 
of  rank  and  title,  which  would  assure  the 
largest  social  prominence  with  the  smallest 
expenditure  of  effort,  was  the  goal  of  ambi- 
tion. A  few  patents  of  colonial  nobility  were 
granted.  Persons  not  so  favored  contented 
themselves  with  orders  and  decorations  dis- 
pensed by  the  crown.  The  higher  oflBces  in 
state  and  church  were  usually  reserved  to 
native-born  Spaniards,  while  the  lower  ones 
fell  to  the  Creoles.  The  latter,  also,  con- 
stituted the  majority  of  the  planters,  cattle- 
raisers,  mine-owners,  professional  men  and 
merchants.  To  the  half  castes  of  low  degree, 
as  well  as  to  the  Indians  and  negroes  in 
general,  were  relegated  the  humbler  trades 
and  labor  of  the  ruder  sort. 

Among  the  members  of  the  upper  class 


SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION  35 

some  prided  themselves  on  the  fact  that  they 
came  from  one  province  or  another  in  Spain; 
although  in  the  long  run  Andalusia  and  the 
Basque  provinces  triumphed  over  all  the 
rest  in  their  influence  on  character,  speech, 
dress  and  custom.  Others  gloried  in  their 
descent  from  the  "conquistadores,"  from 
the  Spanish  and  Indian  nobility,  and  from 
ancestors  of  wealth  or  of  high  official  station. 

But  the  great  contrast  that  pervaded 
social  relations  in  colonial  Spanish  America 
was  that  which  existed  between  the  native 
Spaniards  and  the  Creoles.  Nowhere  was 
the  line  easy  to  draw.  The  Spaniards  did 
not  constitute  the  governing  class  wholly, 
any  more  than  the  Creoles  made  up  the 
wealthy  element  alone.  Yet  the  attitude  of 
the  Creoles  became  hostile,  or  at  least  re- 
sentful, toward  the  natives  of  the  mother 
country,  who  were  accused  of  insufferable 
arrogance  and  exclusiveness,  due  to  the 
especial  favors  they  received  from  the  home 
government. 

Whatever  the  amount  of  ill-feeling  that 
prevailed  among  them,  the  members  of  the 
ruling  class  were  more  or  less  equally  dis- 
dainful of  the  plebeian  multitude  below. 
The  former  were  distinctly  the  "gente  de 
razon,"  or  rational  folk,  whereas  the  latter, 
presumably,  were  the  ignorant  and  debased. 
In  their  turn  the  lower  orders  were  none  too 


36  LATIN  AMERICA 

friendly  disposed  toward  their  white  supe- 
riors, and  were  also  inclined  to  view  with 
condescension  such  of  their  own  number  as 
they  considered  to  be  of  inferior  station. 

In  this  attitude  of  mutual  resentment  and 
disdain  the  power  of  the  home  government 
foimd  one  of  its  strongest  supports.  So 
long  as  the  Spaniards  and  the  Creoles  could 
be  kept  in  a  state  of  disagreement,  a  judi- 
cious distribution  of  oflfices  and  other  favors 
would  suflSce  to  hold  it  within  bounds  as  a 
useful  undercurrent  of  repulsion.  Indeed, 
the  humane  treatment  of  the  Indians  ap- 
pears to  have  been  more  or  less  designed. 
Since  the  natives  looked  upon  the  Spanish 
government  and  clergy  as  their  protectors 
against  the  whites,  whether  Spaniards  or 
Creoles,  they  supplied  a  valuable  counter- 
poise to  any  display  of  undue  ambition  from 
that  quarter.  All  of  this  constituted  the 
social  phase  of  the  policy  of  "divide  and 
rule";  but  it  never  operated  to  the  point  of 
causing  the  social  divisions  to  become  alto- 
gether sharp  and  irreconcilable. 

Much  of  what  has  been  said  so  far  of 
Spanish  America  applies  to  Brazil  under 
the  Portuguese  dominion.  The  Indian  ele- 
ment was  less  numerous,  and  on  the  whole 
inferior  to  that  foimd  elsewhere  in  the  New 
World.  Despite  the  raids  of  the  Paulistas, 
attempts  at  the  enslavement  of  the  abori- 


SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION  37 

gines  were  not  altogether  successful.  Many 
of  the  natives  lived  far  from  the  coast,  they 
could  escape  quite  readily  into  the  jungles 
of  the  interior,  and  they  were  unfitted  to 
supply  the  kind  of  labor  demanded.  Though 
enjoying  considerable  protection  from  the 
clergy,  they  were  neglected  by  the  home 
government,  which  made  no  serious  effort 
to  prohibit  their  enslavement  till  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  negro  slave  population,  on  the  other 
hand,  especially  along  the  eastern  coast  of 
Brazil,  was  relatively  larger  than  in  Spanish 
America.  From  the  time  of  their  first  im- 
portation, in  1563,  the  hot,  moist  climate  of 
the  lowlands  and  the  life  on  the  great  planta- 
tions proved  to  be  well  suited  to  the  blacks. 
Though  often  treated  cruelly  by  their  mas- 
ters, they  throve  abundantly. 

Like  the  Spaniards,  the  Portuguese  colon- 
ists freely  mingled  their  blood  with  that  of 
the  Indians  and  Africans,  constituting  a 
mixed  society  in  which  the  fusion  was  more 
complete  and  the  differentiation,  on  account 
of  race  and  color,  less  noticeable  than  in 
Spanish  America.  In  the  fairly  temperate 
regions  of  the  south,  where  the  aborigines 
were  of  a  strong  stock,  the  white  settlers 
amalgamated  with  them  to  form  the  vigor- 
ous, enterprising  and  aggressive  "mame- 
lucos"  among  the  Paulistas.    The  activities 


88  LATIN  AMERICA 

of  these  southerners,  in  fact,  contributed  as  i 
efficaciously  to  their  domination  over  the 
affairs  of  the  colony  at  large,  as  they  did  to 
the  maintenance  of  Portuguese  control  in 
the  southwestern  portion  of  it  against  the 
pretensions  of  Spain.  Here  and  elsewhere 
in  the  settled  areas  of  Brazil,  toward  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  there  were 
altogether  about  3,000,000  inhabitants,  white, 
half  caste,  Indian  and  negro. 

Antagonism  between  Creoles  and  the  native 
Portuguese  in  Brazil  had  much  the  same  rea- 
sons for  existence  as  in  Spanish  America,  but 
the  economic  motive  was  stronger.  The 
Paulistas  resented  the  Portuguese  competi- 
tion in  the  mining  regions,  and  the  Creole 
sugar-planters  in  the  northeast  disliked  the 
merchants  from  the  mother  country  on  ac- 
count of  their  trade  methods.  In  both  cases 
armed  conflict  ensued.  That  it  was  decided 
in  favor  of  the  Portuguese,  certainly  did  not 
improve  the  temper  of  the  Creoles. 

CHAPTER  IV 

ECONOMIC   CONDITIONS 

Except  in  Peru  and  the  adjacent  regions 
under  the  rule  of  the  Incas,  where  the  llama 
had  been  trained  to  carry  loads,  there  were 
no  domestic  animals  known  to  the  Indians. 
Among    the    more    advanced    communities 


ECONOMIC   CONDITIONS  39 

human  beings,  especially  captives  taken  in 
war  and  converted  into  slaves,  served  as  the 
beasts  of  burden. 

With  all  due  allowance  for  the  exaggera- 
tion of  early  Spanish  writers  on  the  subject, 
and  for  the  relative  scarcity  of  archeological 
remains,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  in 
the  communities  of  that  sort  material  civ- 
ilization had  made  considerable  headway. 
From  metals,  stone,  clay,  wood,  and  cotton 
and  other  textile  substances  the  natives 
fashioned  many  articles  of  utility,  and  even 
of  luxury.  They  built  dikes,  causeways, 
aqueducts,  roads  and  bridges.  Out  of 
wrought  stone  they  constructed  huge  tem- 
ples, pyramids,  fortresses  and  palaces. 

The  idea  prevalent  among  the  Spaniards, 
that  labor  was  more  or  less  dishonorable, 
and  the  fact  that  their  number  was  so  small 
in  comparison  with  the  multitude  of  aborig- 
ines, made  it  imperative  that  they  should 
use  the  Indians  to  develop  the  wealth  of  the 
New  World.  Unless  the  native  inhabitants 
were  employed  to  that  end,  the  process  of 
colonization  could  not  go  on.  They  had  to 
be  forced  to  work,  and  the  disposition  to 
make  them  do  so  became  all  the  more  marked 
after  the  Spaniards  had  found  out  that  the 
relatively  civilized  groups  of  Indians  on  the 
continents  were  thoroughly  familiar  with 
systematic  forms   of   labor.     To   hold   the 


40  LATIN  AMERICA 

people  of  this  class  in  some  kind  of  servi- 
tude was  simply  to  continue  a  practice  that 
had  long  since  existed. 

Though  opposing  such  treatment  at  first, 
the  Spanish  government  later  allowed  it  to 
be  applied  in  the  case  of  Indians  who  might 
resist  the  establishment  of  Spanish  rule,  but 
then  only  as  a  means  of  insuring  their  con- 
version to  Christianity  and  their  advance- 
ment in  civilization.  Three  plans  of  action 
were  soon  adopted  to  make  the  natives 
work  without  legally  enslaving  them.  One, 
called  the  "repartimiento,"  consisted  in  the 
official  distribution,  at  various  points  where 
their  services  might  be  required,  of  batches 
of  Indians  under  the  direction  of  foremen  of 
their  own  race.  Since  this  arrangement  im- 
plied no  personal  obligation  to  promote  the 
welfare  of  the  aborigines,  another  device 
was  put  into  effect.  Under  the  name  "en- 
comienda,"  it  took  the  form  of  officially 
assigning  a  given  number  of  natives  to  a 
particular  colonist,  who  was  charged  with 
the  duty  of  instructing  them  in  the  Catholic 
faith.  Also,  in  order  to  protect  them  against 
exploitation  in  mines  and  elsewhere,  the 
"mita,"  or  shift,  was  introduced,  according 
to  which  gangs  of  laborers  were  to  work  foi 
a  certain  period  of  time. 

For  the  Indians  subjected  to  any  of  these.' 
arrangements,   and   for   those   who   worked 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS  41 

independently  of  them,  elaborate  safeguards 
were  provided  by  law  against  the  perform- 
ance of  service  under  conditions  injurious 
to  health  and  morals,  regulating  the  nature 
and  extent  of  the  tasks  imposed,  and  as- 
suring to  the  natives  fair  treatment  in  gen- 
eral. Furthermore,  just  as  the  unfitness  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  West  Indies  for  sus- 
tained effort  made  the  employment  of  negro 
slaves  advisable,  so  the  abuses  committed 
by  many  of  the  holders  of  "encomiendas," 
and  the  frauds  perpetrated  by  unscrupulous 
traders,  early  suggested  the  appointment  of 
the  local  governors  to  check  them. 

Instead  of  complying  with  their  duties, 
the  district  oflBcials  often  used  their  power 
for  self-enrichment.  Some  of  the  evils  were 
corrected  eventually  through  the  establish- 
ment of  the  intendancies. 

Although  the  Spanish  government  de- 
sired that  the  colonists  should  be  self-sup- 
porting, and  hence  required  that  they  should 
take  with  them  seeds,  domestic  animals, 
farm  implements  and  the  like,  the  early  ad- 
venturers preferred  to  gain  their  livelihood 
in  easier  fashion.  Constantly  searching  for 
gold,  silver  and  precious  stones,  they  plun- 
dered the  Indians,  sacked  the  burial  mounds, 
stripped  the  shrines  of  their  ornaments  and 
compelled  the  natives  to  dig  in  the  mines. 

Gradually,    with    the    introduction   of    a 


42  LATIN  A^IERICA 

more  orderly  life,  the  bulk  of  the  Spanish 
settlers  became  planters  and  herdsmen.  In 
addition  to  the  grains,  fruits  and  vegetables 
brought  from  Europe,  they  cultivated  nu- 
merous products  of  the  New  World  itself, 
with  which  the  Indians  were  already  familiar. 
Among  them  were  tobacco,  Paraguay  tea, 
maize,  potatoes,  tomatoes  and  cacao  —  the 
last  named  especially  on  the  "  chocolatales " 
of  Mexico,  and  of  what  are  now  Bolivia  and 
Venezuela. 

Mining  was  the  most  lucrative  industry. 
Its  development  caused  Mexico,  Peru,  and 
the  present  Bolivia  and  Colombia  to  become 
the  treasure-houses  of  the  world. 

How  much  wealth  in  the  precious  metals, 
particularly  of  silver,  was  actually  drawn 
from  the  mines  in  the  Spanish  dominions, 
no  one  knows;  but  the  amount  was  certainly 
enormous.  Estimates  for  the  entire  colonial 
period  are  merely  guesswork.  Whatever  the 
quantity,  it  fell  off  considerably  in  the  eigh- 
teenth century.  At  that  time  it  may  have 
averaged  in  value  about  $36,000,000  a  year. 

Viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  other 
forms  of  industry,  manufacturing  made  but 
little  progress.  Conditions  were  altogether 
primitive  in  most  cases,  and  besides,  the 
Spanish  government  disapproved  of  activi- 
ties of  that  sort,  as  it  did  also  of  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  vine  and  the  olive.     Not  only 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS  43 

were  they  apt  to  compete  with  the  scanty 
home  production,  but  they  interfered  with 
the  collection  of  export  duties  on  commodi- 
ties brought  from  other  European  countries 
for  shipment  to  America. 

For  the  Spanish  crown  the  "remesas  de 
Indias,"  or  consignments  from  America, 
were  an  important  source  of  income.  On  the 
output  of  precious  metals  and  stones  the 
government  levied  a  duty  of  from  ten  to 
twenty  per  cent,  and  a  smaller  one  on  that 
of  metals  of  the  baser  sort.  These  imposts, 
and  the  proceeds  from  excise  taxes,  such  as 
the  "alcabala,"  which  was  placed  on  ordi- 
nary business  transactions,  from  import  and 
export  duties,  and  from  royal  monopolies 
and  special  fees,  constituted  the  public  rev- 
enue. In  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  receipts  amounted  to  about 
$90,000,000  a  year,  of  which  sum,  on  an 
average,  rather  more  than  four-fifths  went 
to  meet  the  expenses  of  colonial  administra- 
tion. Most  of  the  separate  colonies,  in  fact, 
were  supported  by  annual  subsidies  (situa- 
dos)  furnished  by  the  mining  centers. 

In  1503  there  had  been  established  at  Se- 
ville, then  the  most  important  seaport  of 
southern  Spain,  an  official  institution  called 
the  "House  of  Trade"  (Casa  de  Contrata- 
cion).  Fully  organized  some  forty  years 
later,  it  became  the  medium  of  communica- 


44  LATIN  AMERICA 

tion  between  the  mother  country  and  the 
colonies  in  everything  that  had  to  do  with 
commerce.  It  was  at  once  a  maritime  ex- 
change, a  bureau  of  navigation  and  a  high 
court  of  admiralty.  While  in  general  subor- 
dinate to  the  Council  or  Minister  of  the 
Indies,  the  officials  who  constituted  the 
several  administrative  and  judicial  boards 
could  deal  also  with  the  crown  directly. 

For  the  protection  of  Spanish  shipping 
against  attack  while  en  route  to  or  from 
America,  and  for  the  prevention  of  smug- 
gling, in  1561  the  fleet  system  was  put  into 
operation.  Thereafter,  unless  special  per- 
mission to  the  contrary  were  granted,  the 
vessels  could  sail  but  once  a  year  each  way, 
and  they  had  to  go  in  two  groups  under 
armed  convoy.  Foreign  ships,  of  course,  were 
shut  out  of  the  traffic.  Even  intercolonial 
trade,  except  in  conjunction  with  the  arrival 
of  the  fleets,  was  forbidden. 

The  "flota,"  or  northern  division,  bound 
for  Vera  Cruz,  carried  a  cargo  consigned  to 
various  points  in  Spanish  North  America,  and 
received  there  the  colonial  goods  intended  for 
Europe.  Merchandise  for  any  part  of  Span- 
ish South  America  was  sent  in  the  "galeones'* 
(galleons),  or  southern  fleet,  to  Porto  Bello, 
on  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  Here  the  bulk  of 
the  cargo  was  landed,  and  the  commodities 
destined  for  Europe  were  taken  on  board. 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS  45 

Both  were  distributed  at  a  species  of  fair 
which  attracted  great  numbers  of  people, 
in  spite  of  the  unhealthfulness  of  a  locaHty 
that  became  known  as  "the  Spaniards'  bury- 
ing-ground." 

All  these  measures  of  precaution  did 
not,  and  could  not,  succeed.  The  huge 
Spanish  vessels,  half  freighters  and  half 
men-of-war,  were  unable  to  defend  them- 
selves advantageously  against  the  light 
and  speedy  craft  of  the  sea  rovers,  lawful 
and  piratical,  of  England,  the  Netherlands 
and  France,  who  regarded  the  treasures 
of  the  New  World  as  their  rightful  spoil. 
Nor  were  the  Spanish  revenue  cutters 
(guardacostas)  adequate  to  cope  with  smug- 
glers, foreign  and  native.  The  small  num- 
ber of  vessels  in  the  fleets,  their  infrequent 
sailings,  the  convoy  charges  (averia)  and 
other  expenses  connected  with  transporta- 
tion, and  the  scarcity  of  colonial  ports  of  call, 
furthermore,  made  the  cost  of  European  goods 
very  high.  Particularly  was  this  true  of  arti- 
cles intended  for  points  remote  from  such 
ports,  and  which  might  have  to  be  carried 
overland. 

Under  the  circumstances  it  is  not  surpris- 
ing that  the  colonists  should  have  practiced 
an  art  well  known  in  the  mother  country. 
More  or  less  with  the  connivance  of  the 
local  officials,  who  were  not  always  averse  to 


46  LATIN  AMERICA 

gratifications  for  silence,  they  bought  what- 
ever they  needed  from  obliging  foreigners, 
like  the  English  and  the  Dutch,  who  were 
easily  able  to  undersell  the  factors  of  the 
fleets.  After  the  English  had  secured,  in  1713, 
the  right  to  send  a  heavily  laden  ship  yearly 
to  the  fair  at  Porto  Bello,  and  by  the  so- 
called  "asiento,"  the  monopoly  of  supplying 
Spanish  America  with  negro  slaves,  the  pro- 
cess of  smuggling  became  more  prevalent 
than  ever.  So  ingenious  were  the  devices 
employed  by  the  English,  and  so  apt  their 
Spanish  disciples  in  the  colonies,  that  the 
Minister  of  the  Indies  felt  constrained  to  in- 
voke the  aid  of  the  clergy  against  the  evil. 

By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  Spanish  government  became  convinced 
that  the  organization  of  colonial  commerce 
would  have  to  be  reformed.  Accordingly,  in 
1748,  the  fleet  system,  as  such,  was  practi- 
cally abandoned.  For  it  were  substituted 
"register  ships"  of  a  lighter,  faster  and 
more  seaworthy  type  than  the  galleons,  and 
sailing  at  frequent  intervals.  Later,  in  re- 
sponse to  constant  appeals  and  remon- 
strances from  the  colonies,  various  ports  in 
Spain  and  Spanish  America  were  opened  to 
trade.  Intercolonial  traflBc,  also,  was  al- 
lowed, extending  even  to  Portuguese  Brazil. 

Despite  these  improvements,  communi- 
cation between  the  mother  country  and  the 


ECONOMIC  CONDITIONS  47 

colonies  remained  slow.  In  the  days  of  the 
galleons,  seventeen  months  were  sometimes 
required  for  a  royal  edict  to  reach  Lima. 
Nor  was  transit  between  one  point  in  the  col- 
onies and  another  at  all  rapid.  The  distances 
were  often  tremendous,  and  the  roads  little 
more  than  rough  trails.  Goods  carried  on 
pack  animals,  on  the  backs  of  natives  or  in 
rude  ox-carts  took  an  interminably  long  time 
in  which  to  reach  their  destination. 

In  Brazil,  particularly  in  the  northeastern 
section  of  the  colony,  agriculture  and  stock- 
raising  made  considerable  progress.  Sugar- 
cane, tobacco  and  cotton  were  cultivated,  and 
to  a  much  smaller  extent,  rice  and  other  food 
products.  Coffee  was  not  introduced  until 
1760'.  The  cutting  of  the  valuable  dyestuff 
called  "Brazil  wood,"  and  the  gathering  of 
Brazil  nuts  were  also  carried  on. 

Because  of  the  relatively  late  discovery 
of  precious  metals  and  stones,  mainly  be- 
tween 1680  and  1730,  mining  could  not  be 
reckoned  among  the  chief  industries  of  Bra- 
zil before  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. In  the  southern  portion  of  the  colony, 
especially  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Minas 
Geraes  (literally,  "General  Mines"),  the  out- 
put of  gold  and  diamonds  for  several  decades 
was  very  large. 

Apart  from  industries  arising  directly  out 
of  the  production  of  rum  and  other  deriva- 


48  LATIN  AMERICA 

lives  from  sugar-cane,  manufacturing  made 
less  headway  in  Brazil  than  in  Spanish  Amer- 
ica. The  cane,  sugar  and  rum  were  brought 
to  the  seaports  authorized  for  the  purpose, 
and  there  shipped  to  Portugal  in  exchange  for 
flour,  cloth,  wines  and  the  like. 

After  the  mines  were  opened,  the  revenues 
of  the  mother  country  enjoyed  a  considerable 
increase.  On  the  output  of  the  precious  met- 
als and  stones  a  twenty  per  cent  tax  (quinto) 
was  levied,  yielding  annually  on  an  average 
about  $2,500,000.  From  this  source  and 
others  the  revenue  secured  in  the  eighteenth 
century  may  have  been  worth  upwards  of 
$10,000,000  a  year.  Except  that  duties  and 
excises,  as  a  rule,  were  higher  than  in  Span- 
ish America,  the  system  of  taxation  in  Brazil 
was  much  the  same. 

For  the  benefit  of  home  interests,  and 
since  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
for  the  advantage  of  English  merchants  who 
had  gained  control  of  Portuguese  trade,  the 
government  of  the  mother  country  laid  a  va- 
riety of  restrictions  on  colonial  commerce  and 
industry.  From  the  outset  it  had  made  the 
traffic  in  Brazil  wood  a  royal  monopoly.  It 
granted  to  individuals  and  corporations,  Por- 
tuguese and  foreign,  exclusive  rights  of  hand- 
ling certain  commodities,  and  forbade  trade 
between  the  northern  and  the  southern 
provinces   of   Brazil.     Furthermore,  it   dis- 


THE   CHURCH  49 

couraged  the  local  distillation  of  rum,  and 
eventually  prohibited  all  weaving  industries, 
except  those  connected  with  the  production 
of  coarse  cotton  goods. 

Nothing  so  efficient  as  the  Spanish  "House 
of  Trade"  was  ever  devised  in  Portugal, 
though  colonial  commerce  was  limited  to 
Lisbon  and  Oporto,  in  the  mother  country, 
and  to  a  few  ports  in  Brazil.  The  fleet  sys- 
tem, also,  was  in  vogue  for  a  time  but  the 
privileges  enjoyed  by  private  agencies  made 
it  of  little  importance,  except  perhaps  as  a 
means  of  protection. 

During  the  eighteenth  century  Saint  Do- 
mingue,  the  French  part  of  the  island  of 
Hispaniola,  became  a  flourishing  domain. 
Toiling  under  their  white  taskmasters,  an 
ever  increasing  multitude  of  negro  slaves 
supplied  Europe  with  a  great  part  of  its 
sugar,  cotton,  tobacco  and  indigo.  A  pros- 
perity reckoned  in  hundreds  of  millions  of 
francs  made  of  Saint  Domingue  one  of  the 
most  valuable  colonies  of  the  time  in  the 
New  World. 

CHAPTER  V 

THE   CHURCH 

No  monarch  of  the  time  was  deemed  to  be 
so  Catholic  as  his  majesty  of  Spain,  and  none 
enjoyed  in  his  dominions  oversea  so  great  an 


50  LATIN  AMERICA 

amount  of  ecclesiastical  power.  By  vari- 
ous papal  grants  within  twenty  years  after 
the  discovery  of  America,  the  Spanish  crown 
was  given  substantially  complete  jurisdic- 
tion there  over  the  organization  and  activi- 
ties of  the  Church.  In  exercise  of  the  "royal 
patronage"  (real  patronato),  it  controlled  ap- 
pointments to  benefices  and  other  holdings, 
regulated  the  condi'ct  of  the  clergy,  and  dis- 
posed of  ecclesiastical  property  and  revenues. 

The  Church,  in  fact,  was  the  greatest  in- 
strument of  authority  which  the  crown  pos- 
sessed in  the  colonies.  Just  as  it  had  per- 
petuated in  Europe  the  traditions  of  Rome, 
so  in  the  New  World  it  perpetuated  those  of 
Spain.  Rather  than  secular  agencies  of  any 
sort,  it  was  the  clergy  who  adjusted  the  rela- 
tionship between  the  whites  and  the  Indians, 
who  inculcated  loyalty  to  the  Spanish  throne, 
and  contributed  in  general  to  the  mainte- 
nance and  extension  of  Spanish  rule. 

In  order  to  prosecute  the  work  of  the 
Church  more  effectually,  the  Inquisition  was 
set  up,  in  1569.  Thereafter  confining  its 
attention  exclusively  to  the  European  ele- 
ment in  the  population,  that  dread  tribunal 
punished  heretical  Spaniards  and  foreigners 
like  sailors,  smugglers  and  pirates,  who  might 
have  the  misfortune  to  fall  into  its  clutches. 
But,  except  for  its  censorship  of  thought,  the 
activities  of  the  Inquisition  in  America  were 


THE   CHURCH  51 

much  less  pernicious  than  has  been  commonly 
supposed. 

So  great  were  the  wealth  and  influence  of 
the  Church  that  it  became  customary  to  es- 
timate the  importance  of  a  given  locality  by 
the  number  of  its  ecclesiastical  buildings. 
Many  of  the  edifices,  of  course,  were  used  as 
hospitals  and  asylums,  and  for  charitable  and 
educational  purposes  in  general,  under  the 
direct  control  of  the  Church,  or  of  benevolent 
societies  organized  by  it. 

As  a  rule  the  members  of  the  higher  clergy 
were  men  of  character  and  ability.  Theirs 
was  no  slight  task  to  advance  the  cause  of  the 
Church  as  the  great  moral  guide  of  society,  to 
correct  misbehavior  on  the  part  of  oflficials, 
civil  and  ecclesiastical,  and  to  protect  the 
natives  against  oppression,  without  encour- 
aging them  to  resist  the  enforcement  of  Span- 
ish authority  or  incurring  the  ill  will  of  the 
colonists.  In  this  respect  their  conduct 
furnished  another  example  of  the  astute 
policy  of  the  home  government  in  keeping 
the  colonial  forces  balanced. 

Among  those  who  belonged  to  the  lower 
clergy  were  the  priests  (curas),  the  cate- 
chists  (doctrineros)  and  the  missionaries 
(misioneros) .  The  "  curas  "  ministered  to  the 
religious  needs  of  places  inhabited  chiefly  by 
Spaniards  and  Creoles.  The  "doctrineros'* 
and  "misioneros"  were  monks,  usually  of  the 


52  LATIN  AMERICA 

Jesuit,  Franciscan  or  Dominican  order.  Of 
these  two  classes  the  former  taught  the  cate- 
chism and  performed  other  religious  duties 
among  the  communities  of  converted  Indians, 
while  the  latter  labored  for  the  spread  of  the 
faith  among  the  heathen. 

The  missionaries  were  true  pioneers,  and 
their  zealous  activities  contributed  in  large 
measure  to  the  widening  of  the  area  of  Span- 
ish control.  After  they  had  induced  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  natives  in  a  certain  locality  to 
enter  upon  a  civilized  life,  according  to  the  reli- 
gious standards  of  the  time,  and  had  been  duly 
replaced  by  the  "doctrineros,"  they  struck 
out  still  farther  into  the  wilderness.  Then, 
with  the  arrival  of  white  colonists,  the  aspect 
of  the  settlement  changed,  and  the  former 
Indian  community  became  a  Spanish  village. 

Many  of  the  lower  clergy,  and  in  particular 
the  missionaries,  were  intense  in  their  devo- 
tion to  the  faith,  enduring  disease,  privation, 
violence  and  death,  and  counting  it  a  singular 
joy  to  win  the  martyr's  crown.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  deficiency  in  vigor,  morality  and 
intelligence,  which  too  often  characterized 
the  remaining  members  of  their  class,  was 
assuredly  not  remedied  by  an  intimate  asso- 
ciation with  barbarism,  whatever  its  degree. 

Among  the  more  advanced  groups  of  na- 
tives, a  polytheistic  type  of  religion  had 
reached  an  elaborate  stage  of  development. 


THE   CHURCH  53 

Under  the  direction  of  g,  priestly  caste,  benefi- 
cent deities  were  worshipped  and  malevolent 
spirits  propitiated.  These  divinities  were 
representative  of  animals,  plants  and  other 
natural  phenomena,  and  of  various  culture 
heroes,  and  were  venerated  usually  in  the 
form  of  idols. 

Given  the  fact  that  intolerance  and  cruelty 
were  characteristic  of  Europeans  in  general 
during  the  sixteenth  century,  it  is  safe  to  as- 
sume that  none  of  their  contemporaries 
would  have  behaved  any  better  in  America 
than  the  Spaniards  did,  if  they  had  been 
exposed  to  similar  temptations.  On  the 
whole  it  is  surprising,  perhaps,  that  the  ex- 
hibitions of  fanaticism,  though  bad  enough, 
were  no  worse.  Like  the  "conquistadores," 
the  Spanish  clergy  had  three  motives  in 
dealing  with  the  natives.  These  may  be 
summed  up  in  "destruction,  construction  and 
instruction. " 

To  the  ecclesiastical  mind  of  the  time  the 
idols,  architectural  monuments  and  other 
material  evidences  of  heathen  worship,  were 
fabrications  of  the  devil.  Regardless,  there- 
fore, of  the  loss  to  the  future  antiquaries  and 
archeologists  of  America,  the  clergy  proceeded 
ruthlessly  to  destroy  almost  everything  that 
they  could  find  suggestive  of  the  former  cults. 
In  some  cases  the  pagan  sanctuaries  were  puri- 
fied and  turned  into  churches  and  monasteries; 


54  LATIN  AMERICA 

in  others,  the  building  material  thus  supplied 
was  used  for  the  same  purpose.  Yet  it  must 
not  be  forgotten  that  the  largest  amount  of  de- 
struction was  wrought  during  the  period  of  the 
conquest,  when  martial  energy  was  matched 
by  clerical  zeal.  Most  of  the  finer  monu- 
ments, also,  that  have  been  preserved  were 
erected  centuries  before  the  arrival  of  the 
Spaniards,  and  were  not  in  any  sense  the 
handiwork  of  the  native  peoples  whom  they 
actually  encountered. 

Whatever  the  attitude  of  the  Spanish 
clergy  toward  the  material  side  of  heathenism, 
the  natives  personally  were  shown  an  incredi- 
ble amount  of  mildness  and  forbearance  in 
religious  matters.  They  were  to  be  indulged, 
it  was  said,  "because  of  their  ignorance  and 
their  weak  minds. "  Never  subjected  to  the 
terrors  of  the  Inquisition,  if  the  Indians  per- 
sisted in  practicing  their  ancient  cults,  if  they 
refused  to  work,  or  ran  away,  or  did  not  at- 
tend church,  or  were  otherwise  disobedient, 
they  were  whipped,  or  compelled  to  fast,  or  do 
penance  or  submit  to  some  other  form  of  ec- 
clesiastical discipline.  Only  Christians,  also, 
were  allowed  to  inherit  property. 

Men  like  Bartolome  de  las  Casas  (1474- 
1566),  the  famous  "Apostle  to  the  Indies," 
strove  zealously  to  protect  the  natives  against 
the  rapacity  of  the  rude  adventurers  of  their 
time.     It  was  the  earnest,  and  somewhat 


THE   CHURCH  55 

exaggerated,  pleas  of  Las  Casas  on  behalf  of 
the  West  Indian  islanders,  which  led  in  part 
to  their  replacement  as  laborers  by  negro 
slaves.  His  influence  likewise  contributed  in 
large  measure  to  the  enactment  of  the  hu- 
mane legislation  that  became  so  marked  a 
feature  of  Spanish  colonial  pK)licy. 

Both  in  spiritual  and  temporal  concerns  the 
clergy  wished  to  act,  not  only  as  missionaries, 
but  as  schoolmasters  and  rulers  among  the 
Indians.  "Unless  one  has  over  them  all  au- 
thority," wrote  an  ecclesiastic,  "he  has  none, 
and  if  they  are  not  held  wa}'^  under  and  sub- 
jected, they  cannot  be  held  in  subjection  at 
all."  Nor  did  the  clergy  scruple  to  withdraw 
their  native  charges,  whenever  possible,  from 
contact  with  the  whites,  regardless  of  the  in- 
jury this  procedure  might  cause  to  the  main- 
tenance of  a  civil  administration  applicable 
to  all  classes  of  the  population  alike. 

Though  legally  forbidden  to  convert,  the 
aborigines  by  force,  it  was  not  uncommon, 
during  the  earlier  years,  for  missionaries,  ac- 
companied by  soldiers,  to  make  what  were 
called  "entries"  (entradas)  and  "conquests 
of  souls"  (conquistas  de  almas).  Raiding  an 
Indian  village,  they  would  carry  off  children 
and  youths  to  be  taught  the  Spanish  language 
and  instructed  in  the  Catholic  faith,  thus 
enabling  the  neophytes  to  become  useful  as 
interpreters. 


56  LATIN  AMERICA 

Beginning  with  the  children  who  were 
taught  the  catechism,  often  in  the  form 
of  rhymes,  and  extending  the  instruction  to 
adults  who  learned  how  to  read  simple  leaf- 
lets and  manuals  in  their  own  language  and 
later  in  Spanish,  it  became  possible  to  admit 
Indians  to  the  priesthood  and  to  membership 
in  monastic  orders.  An  Indian  nun,  in 
fact,  was  even  canonized  as  St.  Rose  of 
Lima.  Ecclesiastical  festivals  (fiestas), 
moreover,  and  pilgrimages  (romerias  )  to 
favorite  shrines  were  organized,  and  doubt- 
less had  much  influence  in  strengthening 
the  hold  of  the  Church  on  native  thought, 
whatever  may  be  said  of  the  economic  and 
social  effects  of  the  numerous  holidays  they 
furnished. 

So  far  as  the  Indians  themselves  were 
concerned,  some  submitted  doubtless  because 
of  compulsion,  and  others,  as  a  matter  of 
policy,  the  net  result  being  an  outward  trans- 
ference of  allegiance  from  one  faith  to  another, 
in  recognition  of  the  fact  that  the  new  one 
was  the  stronger.  Imperfect  acquaintance 
with  the  native  vocabularies,  the  inaccuracy 
of  interpreters,  the  lack  of  Indian  words  to  ex- 
press Christian  thought,  and  the  superficial 
character  of  much  of  the  religious  instruction, 
all  lessened  the  value  of  the  work  of  con- 
version. 

While  these  drawbacks  were  more  or  less  op- 


THE  CHURCH  57 

erative  throughout  Spanish  America,  in  some 
locaUtiesrehgious  activity  was  so  well  adjusted 
to  meet  native  conditions  that,  where  defects 
existed,  they  were  usually  of  another  order. 
These  localities  were  the  areas  of  the  mission 
stations,  or  "reductions"  as  they  were  called, 
in  which  communities  of  the  more  docile  sort 
of  Indians  were  "reduced,"  i.  e.  "led  back" 
from  heathenism,  and  brought  to  a  knowledge 
and  practice  of  Christian  civilization.  Most  of 
the  "reductions"  were  in  charge  of  the  Jes- 
uits, and  the  ones  best  known  were  founded 
from  1608  onward  among  the  Guaranls  in  the 
region  of  the  present  Paraguay. 

The  site  of  such  a  mission  was  chosen  with 
reference  to  its  fitness  for  farming  industries 
and  to  its  remoteness  from  the  Spanish  settle- 
ments proper.  Here  the  seclusion  enabled 
the  Jesuits  to  develop  a  kind  of  theocratic 
communism  which  they  considered  needful 
for  their  purpose.  Displaying  a  remarkable 
amount  of  tact,  firmness  and  skill  in  the  way 
they  appealed  to  the  imagination,  aptitudes 
and  intelligence  of  the  natives,  they  produced 
a  society  at  once  obedient,  industrious  and 
prosperous. 

Everything  in  the  "  reduction  "  was  managed 
by  the  Jesuit  "padres."  In  their  villages, 
which  were  models  of  cleanliness  and  order, 
the  neophytes,  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave, 
could  have  no  thought  for  the  morrow.    As 


58  LATIN  AMERICA 

children  they  were  taken  from  parental  care 
and  brought  up  in  charge  of  the  "padres/* 
When  they  reached  a  marriageable  age,  the 
young  men  and  young  women  were  saved  any 
trouble  as  to  choice  by  being  stood  up  in  oppo- 
site rows,  and  mated  without  further  ado  by 
pointing  out  to  each  Pedro  his  Maria.  Under 
like  direction  they  performed  their  daily 
tasks  in  the  fields  and  workshops,  stored 
the  harvests  in  granaries,  and  received  their 
rations  of  boiled  barley  and  beans  and  their 
scanty  articles  of  clothing. 

Few  vices  could  be  found  in  such  communi- 
ties. Nor  is  it  unhkely  that  in  the  long  run  the 
Indians  profited  by  the  sj^stematic  life  to 
which  they  were  subjected.  But  they  could 
not  progress  beyond  a  certain  point;  and  for 
whatever  they  received,  they  paid  in  the  sac- 
rifice of  their  liberty,  their  individuality  and 
their  initiative. 

With  the  suppression  of  the  Jesuit  order  in 
the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
vanished  many  an  Arcadia  of  this  kind  in  the 
American  wilderness.  When  not  taken  over 
by  the  Franciscans  or  Dominicans,  the  mis- 
sion stations  fell  into  ruins,  and  the  neophytes 
lapsed  into  the  rude  conditions  of  former  days. 

In  broad  outlines  the  organization  and  work 
of  the  Church  in  Brazil  resembled  those  in 
Spanish  America,  although  on  a  much  smaller 
scale  and  conducted  in  a  less  efficient  manner. 


INTELLECTUAL  STATUS  59* 

Various  monastic  orders,  also,  and  in  particu- 
lar that  of  the  Jesuits,  performed  useful  ser- 
vices among  the  natives,  while  striving  to 
protect  them  against  the  slave-raiders.  As 
the  Spanish  colonies  had  their  Bartolome  de 
las  Casas,  so  Brazil  had  its  Jose  de  Anchieta 
(1533-1597). 

CHAPTER  VI 

INTELLECTUAL   AND   ARTISTIC   STATUS 

Among  the  relatively  civilized  groups  of 
aborigines,  those  of  central  Mexico  were 
foremost  in  mental  and  artistic  achievement. 
The  only  drawback  throughout  was  that 
the  Indian  civilization  had  so  flimsy  a  tex- 
ture that  it  could  not  withstand  the  on- 
slaught of  a  small  body  of  Europeans. 

Oblivious  to  any  consideration  other  than 
that  of  religious  fanaticism,  the  Spanish  clergy 
treated  the  evidences  of  literary  culture  no  less 
rutlilessly  than  they  did  those  of  a  material 
sort.  "We  found  a  great  number  of  their 
books,"  wrote  one  of  the  early  ecclesiastics, 
alluding  to  the  Mayas  of  Yucatan,  "but  be- 
cause there  was  nothing  in  them  that  had 
not  some  superstition  or  falsehood  of  the 
devil,  we  burned  them  all,  at  which  the  na- 
tives were  marvelously  sorry  and  distressed.'* 
On  this  point  posterity  shares  the  feelings 
of  the  Mayas;  yet  the  fact  remains  that,  af- 


«0  LATIN  AMERICA 

ter  the  first  fury  of  inconoclasm  had  passed 
away,  it  was  the  Spanish  churchmen  them- 
selves who  preserved  many  of  the  Indian  tradi- 
tions and  reHcs  from  destruction.  It  is  quite  as 
true,  also,  that  the  areas  of  Spanish  America 
in  which  the  colonists  made  the  greatest 
educational,  literary  and  artistic  progress 
were  precisely  those  which  had  once  been 
seats  of  native  civilization,  especially  in  the 
viceroy alty  of  New  Spain. 

So  as  to  maintain  obedience  to  the  crown 
and  the  Church,  any  system  of  public  in- 
struction to  be  devised  for  the  colonies  had 
to  be  grounded  on  dogma  and  discipline, 
and  organized  primarily  in  the  interest  of 
a  small  and  select  class.  Popular  education 
was  simply  unthinkable,  and  intellectual 
freedom  quite  out  of  the  question. 

Of  the  scant  amount  of  instruction  offered 
to  the  youth  of  the  New  World  under  Spanish 
dominion,  the  best  was  given  in  the  capitals 
of  the  viceroyalties,  and  in  those  of  the 
more  important  provinces.  Elsewhere  it  was 
apt  to  find  but  feeble  support,  if  any  at  all. 
Some  of  the  wealthier  families,  of  course, 
sent  their  children  to  Spain  to  be  educated. 

When  so  desired,  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
the  upper  classes,  and  even  a  few  bright  chil- 
dren of  the  lower  orders  of  society,  could  at- 
tend monastic  schools.  Here  they  studied  the 
three  "R's,"  music,  drawing,  painting  and,  in 


INTELLECTUAL  STATUS  61 

some  degree,  also,  mechanical  arts;  but  most 
of  them  were  trained  in  little  more  than  re- 
ligious exercises.  The  Indians  and  half  castes 
as  a  body  were  left  altogether  illiterate,  except 
for  such  rudimentary  teaching  of  a  religious 
and  industrial  sort  as  they  might  receive  at 
the  mission  stations.  Where  "colleges"  (col- 
egios)  and  other  schools  for  secondary  instruc- 
tion existed,  they  were  usually  conducted  by 
the  Jesuits,  more  or  less  in  preparation  for 
entrance  into  the  universities. 

Twelve  institutions  of  higher  learning  were 
founded  in  Spanish  America  during  the 
colonial  period,  eight  of  them  before  the 
creation  of  the  oldest  university  in  the 
United  States  (1636).  Of  these  the  first  in 
order  of  time  and  importance  were  the  Royal 
and  Pontifical  University  of  St.  Paul,  in 
Mexico,  and  the  Greater  University  of  St. 
Mark,  in  Lima,  both  being  established  by 
royal  decree  in  1551.  All  of  them  were  or- 
ganized to  some  extent  on  the  Spanish 
University  of  Salamanca  as  a  model. 

The  general  idea  underlying  the  system  of 
higher  instruction  was  to  equip  young  men 
for  the  priesthood  and  for  the  practice  of  the 
law.  At  the  same  time  they  received  a  some- 
what ornamental  education  of  a  literary 
stamp,  which  would  enable  them  to  occupy  a 
proper  social  station,  while  it  disposed  them 
all  the  more  to  uphold  the  Spanish  rule. 


62  LATIN  AMERICA 

Aside  from  defects  in  the  educational  ar- 
rangements, there  were  other  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  intellectual  growth.  Among  them 
may  be  mentioned  the  virtual  isolation  in 
which  the  colonies  were  kept  from  one  an- 
other, as  well  as  from  the  rest  of  the  world; 
the  absence  of  a  reading  public  that  might 
stimulate  literary  endeavor;  the  exercise  of 
a  rigorous  censorsiiip  by  the  civil  and  ecclesi- 
astical authorities,  and  by  the  Inquisition  in 
particular;  and  the  irksome  difficulties  attend- 
ing the  actual  processes  of  publication  and 
distribution. 

The  first  printing  press  in  the  New  World 
was  set  up  at  IVIexico  in  1535,  more  than  a 
century  before  anything  of  the  sort  appeared 
in  what  is  now  the  United  States.  Its  earliest 
product,  a  tract  entitled  "A  Spiritual  Ladder 
by  which  to  reach  Heaven"  (Escala  Espiri- 
tual  para  llegar  al  Cielo),  came  forth  in  the 
following  year,  but  no  copies  of  it  are  known 
to  exist.  In  Peru,  the  earliest  issue  of  the 
press  (1584)  was  a  catechism  in  the  Quichua 
and  Aymara  tongues.  By  1810  printing 
had  been  introduced  into  six  other  provinces 
as  well. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  every  local  printer 
had  to  be  licensed,  the  publications  them- 
selves subjected  to  a  sharp  censorship  and 
the  number  of  presses  kept  correspondingly 
limited,  the  output  of  printed  matter  in  the 


INTELLECTUAL  STATUS  63 

Spanish  colonies  was  surprisingly  large.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  amount  of  material  that 
remained  in  manascript  was  far  greater  still. 
Some  of  the  best  of  it,  in  fact,  was  not  pub- 
lished until  after  the  colonies  had  won  their 
independence.  The  bulk  of  what  actually 
secured  publication  consisted  of  religious  es- 
says and  tracts,  legal  treatises,  primers, 
grammars  and  dictionaries  of  the  native 
languages,  and  works  on  history,  ethnology, 
archeology,  mining,  mechanics,  medicine, 
plant  and  animal  life,  and  on  various  other 
natural  phenomena.  In  the  list,  also,  were 
included  official  announcements,  news  sheets, 
pamphlets  descriptive  of  memorable  events 
or  on  armorial  bearings,  and  certain  kinds  of 
imaginative  literature,  such  as  poems  and 
panegyrics. 

Throughout  the  long  list  of  authors  in  the 
colonial  period  the  names  of  ecclesiastics,  of 
course,  predominated.  Many  of  the  contribu- 
tions to  history  and  ethnology  were  extremely 
valuable.  Often  verbose  and  monotonous, 
and  reflecting  the  ignorance  and  credulity 
of  the  age,  the  narratives  reveal,  neverthe- 
less, the  existence  of  a  patient  accumulation 
of  material  which  is  altogether  praiseworthy. 
To  these  accounts,  in  fact,  ethnologists  to- 
day owe  much  of  what  is  known  about  the 
Indian  civilizations. 

In  the  lighter  forms  of  literature,  poetry 


64  LATIN  AMERICA 

occupied  tlie  most  conspicuous  place.  At 
contests  held  in  the  monasteries  and  "col- 
leges" of  Mexico,  hundreds  of  poets  at  times 
are  said  to  have  competed  for  the  prize  of 
distinction  over  their  fellows,  even  if  their 
versification  was  rather  crude.  Some  of  the 
earlier  historical  writings,  indeed,  were  poet- 
ical compositions. 

The  intellectual  decline  in  the  mother  coun- 
try, following  the  "Golden  Age,"  was  reflected 
in  the  colonies,  up  to  the  second  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  Meanwhile,  the  accession 
of  a  member  of  the  French  royal  house  of 
Bourbon  to  the  throne  of  Spain  brought  into 
Spanish  life  a  measure  of  French  influence. 
One  of  its  forms  appeared  in  the  grant  to  dis- 
tinguished foreigners  of  permission  to  visit 
the  dominions  in  America.  The  travels  and 
investigations  of  these  men,  in  fact,  consti- 
tute the  stock  sources  of  information  about 
conditions  in  the  colonies,  as  they  stood  in  the 
later  years  of  Spanish  rule. 

Gradually  the  influence  of  experimental 
science,  of  European  learned  societies,  and 
even  of  the  French  liberal  philosophy,  began 
to  percolate  into  the  colonies,  in  spite  of  civil 
and  ecclesiastical  opposition.  The  work  of 
Mexican  astronomers  won  especial  praise  from 
European  scholars.  Nor  was  this  the  only 
encouragement  to  science.  A  school  of  sur- 
gery, a  college  of  mining  and  a  botanical  gar- 


ESTTELLECTUAL  STATUS  65 

den  caused  the  city  of  Mexico,  toward  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  to  become 
widely  celebrated  for  its  learning.  , 

Journalism,  also,  made  some  progress  in 
the  Spanish  colonies.  The  first  sheet  that 
conveyed  any  "news"  was  a  leaflet  published 
at  Lima  in  1594,  to  satisfy  a  popular  demand 
for  information  about  the  capture  of  an 
English  pirate. 

About  1620  these  occasional  leaflets  telling 
of  some  special  event  began  to  appear  in  Mex- 
ico, as  well  as  in  Lima;  but  not  until  the  first 
quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century  did  any- 
thing resembling  modern  newspapers  come 
from  the  colonial  press.  Starting  in  Mexico 
in  1722,  they  were  issued  at  irregular  intervals 
as  small  quartos,  single  fold  with  four  pages, 
and  wretchedly  printed  on  a  poor  quality  of 
paper.  When  foreign  intelligence  was  avail- 
able, it  appeared  in  the  shape  of  belated  de- 
spatches, or  reprints  from  back  numbers  of 
Spanish  newspapers,  brought  by  the  fleets. 

Alternating  between  the  names  of  "Mer- 
cury" and  "Gazette,"  the  two  newspapers 
of  Mexico  and  Lima  led  a  rather  spasmodic 
existence  till  1784,  when  in  the  former  city 
the  issues  became  regular  and  eventually 
reached  a  semi-weekly  edition.  In  both  cases 
the  sheets  had  an  oflBcial  cast,  the  contents 
giving  facts  and  laws,  but  not  opinions. 
Between  1729  and  1810  five  provinces,  in 


C6  LATIN  AMERICA 

addition  to  Mexico  and  Peru,  had  news- 
papers of  a  more  or  less  brief  existence. 

Literary  and  scientific  journals  of  an  evanes- 
cent sort  had  been  fairly  numerous  since  the 
latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  They 
bore  such  titles  as  "The  Flying  Mercury," 
"  TheThinker,"  "  TheLiterary  Gazette,"  "Ob- 
servations on  Physics,  History  and  the 
Natural  and  Usefal  Arts,"  "The  Learned, 
Economic  and  Commercial  Journal,"  "The 
School  of  Concord"  and  "The  First  Fruits  of 
Culture." 

Among  the  fine  arts  of  colonial  times,  archi- 
tecture attained  the  fullest  development,  and 
that  mainly  in  its  ecclesiastical  form.  Both 
church  and  state  in  the  more  important  vice- 
royalties,  New  Spain  and  Peru,  enjoyed  reve- 
nues which  enabled  them  to  construct  and 
adorn  public  edifices  on  a  scale  of  lavish  magnif- 
icence. Particularly  was  this  the  case  in  New 
Spain.  The  wealth  of  the  country,  its  rela- 
tive freedom  from  hostile  incursions,  and 
abundance  of  building  material  made  it  pos- 
sible to  perpetuate  in  mighty  structures  the 
dominance  of  the  religious  and  political  ideas 
of  the  time. 

Sculpture  and  painting  never  attained  in 
the  Spanish  colonies  the  luxuriance  which 
distinguished  the  architecture  of  the  time. 
Though  incentives  were  abimdant,  their  in- 
fluence was  nulHfied  in  large  measure  by  a 


INTELLECTUAL  STATUS  67 

faulty  technique,  and  an  almost  slavish  ad- 
herence at  times  to  the  examples  of  European 
masters,  thus  discouraging  originality  in  con- 
ception and  treatment.  For  the  portrayal 
of  the  human  form,  also,  good  models  could 
not  be  obtained,  chiefly  because  of  the  op- 
position of  the  Church  to  studies  in  the 
nude.  Few  pieces  of  colonial  sculpture  had 
any  merit.  The  best  of  them,  perhaps,  was 
a  bronze  equestrian  statue  of  King  Charles 
IV  of  Spain,  set  up  in  Mexico  in  1803. 

Since  the  Church  was  the  great  patron  of 
art,  it  was  natural  that  the  vast  majority  of  the 
frescoes  and  canvases  produced  should  deal 
with  religious  subjects.  Not  only  copies, 
but  even  the  originals,  of  works  by  Spanish, 
Flemish  and  Italian  masters  were  numerous 
in  ecclesiastical  buildings  and  in  the  homes  of 
the  wealthy,  especially  in  New  Spain.  Murillo 
everywhere  was  the  artist  most  revered,  a 
primary  source  of  inspiration  for  the  major- 
ity of  colonial  painters.  Frescoes  too  often 
suffered  from  the  effects  of  humidity  and 
earthquakes  to  be  rated  of  much  value. 

Compared  with  the  situation  in  Spanish 
America,  the  signs  of  intellectual  and  artistic 
progress  in  Brazil  were  not  very  encouraging. 
For  this  relative  backwardness,  the  neglect 
of  the  home  government,  the  huge  size  of  the 
country,  the  influence  of  climatic  conditions, 
and  the  special  circumstances  of  a  social  and 


68  LATIN  AMERICA 

industrial  nature,  which  have  already  been 
sketched,  were  all  more  or  less  responsible. 

On  the  larger  plantations  the  priests  some- 
times taught  the  owner's  children.  In  towns 
monastic  schools  were  available.  Secondary 
instruction  was  cared  for  principally  by  the 
Jesuits,  whose  "college"  at  Bahia  gained  a 
high  reputation. 

Although  Brazil  had  no  universities,  no 
printing  press  before  1808,  and  no  very 
worthy  creation  of  trowel,  brush  and  chisel 
till  much  later,  the  country  felt,  nevertheless, 
the  quickening  impulses  that  marked  the  clos- 
ing years  of  the  colonial  regime.  One  of  the 
manifestations  of  the  new  spirit  was  shown  in 
the  founding,  chiefly  in  the  southern  provin- 
ces, of  learned  societies  modeled  after  those 
of  Europe. 

Some  of  the  Brazilian  poets  of  the  time  gave 
more  or  less  conscious  expression,  also,  to  the 
faint  sentiment  of  nationality  which  was  be- 
ginning to  pervade  the  Spanish  and  Portu- 
guese colonies.  This  they  did,  either  by  em- 
phasizing the  blend  of  the  European  and  the 
native,  out  of  which  was  to  rise  a  new  and 
independent  nation,  or  by  directing  unfavor- 
able attention  to  the  ecclesiastical  bulwark, 
on  which  rested  much  of  the  political  domin- 
ion of  Spain  and  Portugal  in  America. 


PART  II 
THE  REPUBLICS 

CHAPTER  Vn 

INDEPENDENCE 

Few  movements  in  history  have  been  so 
much  misunderstood,  few  have  displayed 
such  a  complexity  of  purposes  and  methods, 
and  none  has  presented  a  stranger  outcome 
than  the  series  of  revolutions,  between  1810 
and  1826,  which  destroyed  the  power  of  Spain 
on  the  continents  of  America.  The  struggle 
is  best  explained,  perhaps,  by  regarding  it 
from  a  threefold  point  of  view:  Spanish, 
Spanish-American  and  European. 

In  the  first  place,  it  was  a  fight  between 
Spaniards  of  the  New  World  and  a  conserva- 
tive government  of  the  Old  World,  which  for- 
bade liberty  of  thought  and  action  at  home 
no  less  than  it  did  in  the  provinces  beyond 
the  seas.  To  the  extent  that  Spanish  soldiers 
obeyed  the  commands  of  this  government,  it 
was  a  fight  between  two  groups  of  Spaniards, 
cherishing  two  sets  of  ideas  and  coming  from 
two  different  environments.  The  one  repre- 
sented the  mother  country  and  autocracy ;  the 
other  was  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  local  in- 

69 


70  LATIN  AMERICA 

dividualism  which  had  been  brought  from 
Spain  to  America,  and  there  given  new  life 
and  vigor. 

From  the  standpoint  of  colonial  conditions 
proper,  the  contest  was  a  civil  war  between 
the  men  who  wished  to  uphold  the  existing 
regime  and  those  who  desired  to  have  it  ab- 
olished. If  independence  were  to  be  attained, 
it  was  necessary  to  overcome  the  resistance  of 
the  loyalists  and  the  passiveness  of  the  neu- 
trals, who  were  farmore  numerous  throughout 
than  were  the  professional  Spanish  soldiers. 
Hardly  a  third  of  the  population  was  inter- 
ested in  the  struggle  when  it  began.  So  long 
as  the  dominant  classes,  and  in  particular  the 
clergy,  were  generally  hostile  or  indifferent  to 
revolution,  and  the  great  body  of  the  Indians 
and  half-castes,  neutral  or  inclined  to  favor 
the  home  government,  the  chances  of  suc- 
cess were  small.  When  the  scanty  strength 
of  Spain  was  becoming  exhausted,  and  cer- 
tain European  nations  found  it  impossible 
to  intervene  on  Spain's  behalf,  the  social 
elements  hitherto  adverse  to  the  cause  of 
independence  gradually  lent  it  their  support, 
and  the  issue  was  then  decided. 

But  the  most  extraordinary  phase  of  the 
whole  movement  is  seen  only  in  connection 
with  lands  and  peoples  entirely  outside  of 
Spanish  America.  From  this  viewpoint  the 
wars  of  independence  were  an  exotic,  the 


INDEPENDENCE  71 

product  of  European  ideas  and  institutions, 
substantially  unknown  both  in  Spain  and  in 
its  oversea  dominions,  until  brought  thither 
as  a  result  of  conditions  in  Europe  at  large. 
They  might  even  be  called  a  phase  of  Euro- 
pean rivalries  transferred  to  America. 

No  matter  how  vigilant  the  watchfulness 
of  the  Spanish  local  authorities,  in  the  second 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century  a  far  more  ex- 
tensive knowledge  of  what  was  going  on  in 
the  world  crept  into  the  colonies  than  had 
ever  been  acquired  before.  The  works  of 
such  philosophers  and  historians  as  Montes- 
quieu, Rousseau,  Voltaire  and  Robertson  be- 
gan eagerly  to  be  read,  European  newspapers 
were  used  to  wi'ap  up  cheese,  fish  and  other 
commodities,  and  then  smuggled  in  under 
the  very  noses  of  the  inquisitors  and  their 
henchmen.  After  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States  was  published, 
French  translations  of  it  soon  found  their  way 
into  Spanish  America.  Men  who  had  trav- 
eled in  Europe  and  in  the  first  of  the  repub- 
lics to  be  set  up  in  the  New  World,  also, 
came  home  to  tell  of  what  they  had  seen 
and  heard. 

To  the  force  of  the  example  of  the  United 
States  was  soon  added  the  mighty  influence  of 
the  French  Revolution.  Racial  sympathy, 
no  less  than  the  methods  of  the  revolution- 
ists who  overthrew  an  "ancien  regime,"  sim- 


72  LATIN  AMERICA 

ilar  to  that  which  existed  in  Spain,  worked 
powerfully  on  the  imagination  of  the 
Spanish  Americans.  When  the  movement 
in  behalf  of  independence  had  fairly  begun, 
therefore,  "liberty,  equality  and  fraternity" 
became  watchwords,  the  "bonnet  rouge,"  or 
liberty  cap,  an  emblem,  and  masonic  lodges, 
a  useful  instrument  for  revolutionary  pro- 
paganda. The  ideas  and  processes  of  polit- 
ical and  social  experimentation  visible  in  the 
l^Vench  Revolution  and  its  aftermath  were 
all  imitated  to  a  greater  or  less  extent. 

In  1808  France  delivered  the  master- 
vStroke  that  was  to  make  the  independence 
of  continental  Spanish  America  a  certainty. 
When  Napoleon  forced  the  king  of  Spain  to 
abdicate,  placed  his  own  brother  Joseph  on 
the  throne  and  overran  the  country  with  his' 
armies,  he  created  a  situation  that  was  from 
every  point  of  view  extraordinary.  In  Spain 
the  people  refused  to  recognize  the  usurper 
and  organized  revolutionary  committees  (jun- 
tas), to  direct  the  struggle  for  freedom  and 
to  govern  in  the  name  of  their  deposed  sover- 
eign, Ferdinand  VII. 

The  issue  in  the  colonies  was  far  more 
complicated.  Since  the  Spanish  officials 
had  received  their  mandate  from  a  king  who 
no  longer  ruled,  they  had  no  legal  right  to 
their  positions,  unless  they  accepted  appoint- 
ment from  Joseph  Bonaparte.    This  in  gen- 


INDEPENDENCE  78 

eral  they  refused  to  do,  and  even  went  so 
far  as  to  exclude  his  representatives  when  the 
latter  tried  to  assume  charge  of  the  adminis- 
stration.  Instead,  they  preferred  to  continue 
governing  in  the  name  of  Ferdinand  VII, 
and  meanwhile  to  regard  the  "juntas,"  and 
later  a  regency  that  was  set  up,  as  the  lawful 
authority  in  Spain. 

On  their  part,  the  colonists  either  sub- 
mitted to  this  arrangement,  or  proceeded  to 
follow  the  precedent  established  in  the 
mother  country,  with  such  modifications  as 
local  circumstances  might  suggest.  The  first 
course  of  action  was  the  one  commonly  taken 
throughout  the  viceroyalty  of  New  Spain 
and  in  the  the  province  of  Peru.  In  Spanish 
South  America  at  large,  however,  the  influ- 
ence of  foreign  ideas  usually  prompted  the 
intelligent  classes  to  take  matters  more  or 
less  into  their  own  hands. 

The  outcome  of  a  paradoxical  situation 
like  this  is  not  difficult  to  foresee.  Friction, 
and  even  conflict,  with  the  Spanish  func- 
tionaries, who  did  not  relish  any  deprivation 
of  their  powers,  was  inevitable.  The  same 
was  true  of  the  policy  to  be  observed  toward 
the  people  who  might  be  dissatisfied  with  the 
regime  provided  for  them,  or  alarmed  at 
the  tendencies  that  it  was  assuming.  Above 
all,  the  enjoyment  of  practical  autonomy, 
up  to  the  time   that   Ferdinand   VII   was 


74  LATIN  AMERICA 

restored  to  the  throne  in  1814,  could  only  lead 
to  revolt  when  that  monarch  revealed  him- 
self as  a  genuine  Bourbon,  incapable  of  learn- 
ing anything  or  of  forgetting  anything.  From 
revolution  in  behalf  of  liberal  rule  to  revolu- 
tion in  behalf  of  independence,  was  an  easy 
and  natural  step. 

Long  concerned  in  efforts  to  break  down 
the  conmiercial  monopoly  of  Spain  in  the  New 
World,  Great  Britain,  on  its  part,  was  a  self- 
interested  advocate  of  Spanish- American  free- 
dom. In  the  revolt  of  the  Spanish  Americans 
it  saw  an  opportunity  to  secure  markets  for 
its  manufactures  and  capital,  raw  material  for 
its  factories  and  cargoes  for  its  ships.  Ac- 
cordingly, while  the  government  itself  kept 
up  a  show  of  neutrality,  representatives  of 
the  insurgents  were  welcomed  to  British 
shores;  money,  ships  and  munitions  of  war 
were  provided,  and  British  soldiers  of  for- 
tune enlisted  in  the  patriot  ranks. 

For  reasons  that  are  partially  explained  by 
the  local  situation  and  other  circumstances  al- 
ready described,  the  three  great  centers  from 
which  the  revolt  against  Spain  spread  through- 
out the  Spanish  territory  in  the  two  continents 
were  found  within  the  areas  of  the  present 
Venezuela,  Argentine  Republic  and  Mexico. 
A  stronger  explanation  still  is  afforded  by 
the  fact  that  Venezuela  was  the  birthplace 
of  Francisco  de  Miranda   (1752-1816),   the 


INDEPENDENCE  75 

chief  pioneer  of  the  movement  toward  eman- 
cipation, and  of  Simon  Bolivar  (1783-1830), 
the  "Liberator,"  who,  in  addition  to  winning 
independence  for  his  native  land,  assured  it 
also  to  what  are  now  Colombia,  Ecuador  and 
Bolivia,  and  contributed  powerfully  to  the 
freedom  of  Peru.  In  the  Argentine  Republic 
was  born  the  most  eminent  patriot  of  the  south- 
ern colonies.  This  was  Jose  de  San  Martin 
(1778-1850),  who  freed  Chile  from  the  Span- 
ish yoke,  and  carried  the  war  up  into  Peru  as 
well.  Indeed,  the  history  of  the  entire  struggle 
for  independence  in  Spanish  South  America  is 
contained  largely  in  the  biographies  of  these 
three  men.  On  the  other  hand,  Mexico,  as 
the  seat  of  power  in  Spanish  North  America, 
was  the  logical  starting  point  of  efforts  to 
overthrow  the  Spanish  domiuion  in  that 
quarter. 

By  1826,  when  the  Spanish  flag  was  finally 
lowered,  eight  new  and  independent  states 
had  arisen  on  the  continents  of  America. 
These  were:  Paraguay, the  "United  Provinces 
of  theRiver Plate,"  Chile, "Great  Colombia," 
Peru,  the  United  Mexican  States,  the  "Cen- 
tral American  Federation, ' '  and  Bolivia.  All 
of  them,  except  Paraguay,  which  had  once 
formed  part  of  the  "audiencia  "  of  Buenos 
Ayres,  and  "  Great  Colombia,"  which  corre- 
sponded to  the  viceroyalty  of  New  Granada, 
were  practically  identical  in  area  with  "au- 


76  LATIN  AMERICA 

diencias"  and  "presidencies"  in  the  other 
viceroyalties,  as  they  existed  at  the  opening 
of  the  revolution.  The  two  island  colonies, 
Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  remained  faithful  to 
the  mother  country;  although  in  the  case 
of  Cuba,  this  attitude  was  due  more  to  Span- 
ish strength,  perhaps,  than  to  feelings  of 
loyalty  as  such. 

During  the  course  of  the  struggle  the  people 
of  the  United  States  sympathized  openly 
with  the  efforts  of  the  Spanish  Americans 
to  win  independence.  Though  the  govern- 
ment professed  neutrality,  it  did  not  always 
prevent  ships  from  leaving  American  ports, 
laden  with  volunteers  and  supplies.  Then,  as 
it  became  evident  that  Spain  could  not 
regain  its  lost  dominions,  in  1822  the  United 
States  decided  to  recognize  the  independence 
of  the  Spanish-American  republics. 

Because  of  the  disposition  of  Austria,  Rus- 
sia and  Prussia,  the  chief  members  of  the  so- 
called  "Holy  Alliance,"  to  intervene  on  behalf 
of  Spain,  the  United  States,  in  understand- 
ing with  Great  Britain,  resolved  to  forestall 
any  possible  action  of  that  sort.  In  1823,  ac- 
cordingly,  it  put  forth  the  "  Monroe  Doctrine," 
warning  the  nations  of  Europe  that  America 
was  not  to  be  regarded  by  them  as  a  field  for 
future  colonization;  that  they  must  not  ex- 
tend their  monarchical  system  to  it,  and  that 
they  must  refrain  from  interfering  in  general 


INDEPENDENCE  77 

with  the  progress  of  the  new  republics.  Great 
Britain  followed,  in  1825,  with  a  formal  recog- 
nition of  Spanish- American  independence; 
but  Spain  itself  refused  to  take  any  step  in 
that  direction  until  1836. 

In  the  case  of  Brazil,  the  causes  of  separa- 
tion from  Portugal  were  similar  to  those  al- 
ready given  for  Spanish  America,  except  that 
the  struggle  in  the  latter  area  furnished  an 
additional  incentive.  The  actual  processes  of 
withdrawal,  however,  and  the  general  result 
of  the  operation,  were  quite  different. 

Driven  from  Portugal,  early  in  1808,  by  an 
invasion  of  the  mother  country  by  the  troops 
of  Napoleon,  the  royal  court  took  advantage 
of  an  offer  of  transportation  in  British  ves- 
sels to  shift  its  residence  to  Brazil.  Acting  in 
accordance  with  British  advice,  also,  Joao, 
the  prince  regent  of  the  time,  proceeded  to 
throw  open  the  ports  of  the  colony  to  for- 
eign trade,  removed  some  of  the  burdens  on 
industry,  encouraged  immigration,  estab- 
lished a  printing  press  and  introduced  a  num- 
ber of  other  reforms  of  a  more  or  less  liberal 
character.  Further  proofs  of  royal  interest , 
were  furnished,  in  1815,  by  raising  Brazil  to 
the  rank  of  a  joint  kingdom  with  Portugal, 
and  later  by  annexing  what  is  now  Uruguay, 
under  the  name  of  the  "Cisplatine  Province. " 

Fairly  popular  as  these  measures  were, 
they  did  not  serve  to  reconcile  the  colonists  to 


78  LATIN  AMERICA 

a  continuance  of  Portuguese  domination,  or 
to  prevent  occasional  uprisings.  Most  of  the 
people  felt  that  a  big  country  like  Brazil, 
endowed  with  enormous  possibilities  of  de- 
velopment, ought  not  to  submit  any  longer 
to  the  dictation  of  a  weak  little  kingdom  in 
Europe.  Their  conviction  on  the  matter  was 
strengthened  by  the  arrogant  behavior  of  the 
Portuguese  who  had  followed  in  the  wake  of 
the  court,  by  the  spirit  of  unrest  among  some 
of  the  Portuguese  troops  who  had  become  im- 
bued with  English  ideas,  and  above  all,  by 
the  doubtful  sympathy  of  Joao,  now  king, 
with  his  own  reforms. 

So  far  then,  as  the  desirability  of  separation 
from  the  mother  country  was  concerned,  opin- 
ions were  substantially  united.  Regarding 
the  kind  of  separation  and  the  form  of  gov- 
ernment to  follow  it,  they  were  considerably 
divided.  In  the  northern  provinces  a  certain 
amount  of  sentiment  was  shown  in  favor  of 
erecting  a  federal  republic;  but  the  prestige  of 
monarchy,  created  by  the  long  residence  of 
the  court,  and  the  lessons,  taught  by  the  mis- 
fortunes of  the  Spanish  Americans  in  trying 
to  maintain  stability  in  their  republican  sys- 
tem, prevented  any  notions  of  the  sort  from 
gaining  acceptance  in  Brazil  at  large. 

Aware  of  the  indignation  aroused  by  the 
menacing  attitude  of  the  mother  country, 
Pedro,  the  prince  regent,  who  had  been  left 


INDEPENDENCE  79 

in  charge  of  Brazil  when  his  father  returned 
to  Portugal,  wisely  resolved  to  put  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  movement  for  emancipa- 
tion. In  1822,  accordingly,  he  proclaimed  the 
independence  of  Brazil,  and  assimied  the  title 
of  emperor.  Two  years  later,  also,  he  granted 
a  reasonably  liberal  constitution,  not  for 
actual  use,  but  simply  to  gratify  the  desires 
of  those  who  wanted  it.  The  revolution  thus* 
had  been  accomplished  practically  without' 
bloodshed,  and  Brazil  started  on  its  indepen-l 
dent  life  with  the  best  prospects  of  freedom 
from  the  disastrous  conflicts  that  were  har- 
assing the  Spanish-American  countries. 

Portugal,  of  course,  was  too  feeble  todo  any- 
thing more  than  glower  at  its  former  colony. 
The  "Holy  Alliance"  contemplated  interven- 
tion, but  was  dissuaded  from  doing  so  by  the 
opposition  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States.  Pressure  from  the  British  govern- 
ment, furthermore,  induced  Portugal  to  ac- 
cept the  inevitable,  and,  in  1825,  it  recog- 
nized the  itidependence  of  Brazil. 

Meanwhile,  on  the  French  island  of  Haiti, 
another  state  was  being  formed.  Vastly  out- 
numbering the  white  inhabitants,  the  negroes 
and  mulattoes  of  Saint  Domingue  took  ad- 
vantage of  the  privileges  of  freedom  and  citi- 
zenship conferred  by  the  French  National 
Convention  to  rise  in  revolt  under  an  able 
leader  known  as  "Toussaint  L'Ouverture.'* 


80  LATIN  AMERICA 

When  they  finally  triumphed,  in  1801,  a 
republic  was  set  up  with  Toussaint  as  its 
president. 

An  army  of  30,000  men  sent  by  Napoleon 
attempted  to  regain  control,  and  the  havoc 
wrought  by  carnage  and  pestilence  was 
frightful.  After  yellow  fever  had  carried  off 
untold  thousands  of  the  French  soldiers,  the 
warfare  ceased.  Thereupon,  in  1804,  the 
negro  chieftain  who  had  succeeded  Tous- 
saint in  power  informed  his  compatriots 
that  with  the  approval  of  his  generals,  he 
had  taken  the  title  of  emperor. 

Upon  a  mass  of  people  scarcely  out  of  sla- 
very the  efforts  of  a  few  men  of  intelligence 
among  the  Haitians  to  better  their  unfortu- 
nate lot  could  make  but  little  impression. 
Negro  despots  built  huge  fortified  palaces, 
surrounded  themselves  with  gaudy  pomp 
and  affected  the  manners  of  oriental  poten- 
tates, while  their  subjects  grovelled  before 
them.  Anarchy,  violence  and  further  degra- 
dation could  be  the  only  immediate  heritage 
of  such  a  past. 

On  the  news  of  !the  French  invasion  of 
Spain,  in  1808,  Santo  Domingo,  the  eastern 
portion  of  the  island,  in  which  the  white 
remnant  was  larger,  drove  out  the  black  mas- 
ter of  the  west,  and  again  became  a  Spanish 
province.  Thirteen  years  later  it  declared 
itself  a  republic,  only  to  fall  under  the  con-. 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT         81 

ferol  of  Haiti  once  more.  Finally,  in  1825, 
France  agreed  to  acknowledge  the  indepen- 
dence of  its  former  dominion. 

CHAPTER  VIII 

NATIONAL   DEVELOPMENT 

In  its  relation  to  their  extent  of  territory, 
the  population  of  the  republics  that  had 
overthrown  the  rule  of  Spain  was  extremely 
small.  Yet,  despite  the  fact  that  negro 
slavery  was  soon  abolished,  and  that  earnest 
efforts  were  made  to  attract  European 
immigration  and  capital,  the  Spanish-Ameri- 
can countries  were  shunned  for  many  years 
by  these  vital  factors  of  progress. 

Geographically  and  climatically  the  regions 
were  less  attractive  than  those  of  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking republic  in  North  America, 
and  besides,  the  facilities  of  transportation 
to  the  former  were  alike  deficient  and  ex- 
pensive. The  tide  of  immigration  set  in 
toward  the  United  States  at  a  time  when 
Spanish  America  was  still  under  the  col- 
onial regime  of  exclusion,  or  was  struggling 
in  the  throes  of  revolution.  Both  of  these 
circumstances  offered  scant  inducement  to 
foreigners  who  wished  to  establish  them- 
selves in  peace.  The  earlier  immigrants, 
furthermore,  coming  as  they  did  from  the 
British  Isles  and  from  Germany,  were  not  dis- 


82  LATIN  AMERICA 

posed  to  seek  their  fortunes  among  peoples 
of  a  race-stock,  of  ideas,  of  religion  and  in- 
stitutions, so  different  from  their  own. 
Nor  was  capital  likely  to  go  to  areas  in  which 
political  conditions  were  uncertain,  unless  it 
went  in  accordance  with  terms  that  imposed 
heavy  obligations  for  the  future  to  satisfy. 

Bereft  of  political  experience  on  a  large 
scale,  and  lacking  the  education  needful 
to  dispel  ignorance  among  the  people  in 
general,  no  less  than  to  prepare  them  for 
the  duties  of  citizenship,  the  Spanish  Ameri- 
cans were  bound  to  commit  two  grave  errors. 
In  some  cases  they  practically  continued  the 
system  of  colonial  times,  by  submitting  to 
one  or  more  of  their  own  number,  who  either 
thought  and  acted  for  them,  or  else  prevented 
them  from  thinking  and  acting  for  them- 
selves. They  relied,  therefore,  upon  official 
agencies,  in  the  forms  of  dictators  and  oli- 
garchies, to  carry  on  the  work  of  admin- 
istration, instead  of  upon  the  private  ini- 
tiative of  the  citizens  themselves.  In  other 
cases  they  scorned  legal  methods  entirely, 
and  strove  to  do  whatever  local  circumstances 
or  personal  inclination  might  suggest. 

Though  paper  constitutions  were  numer- 
ous, they  were  promulgated  often  on  the 
assumption  that  republics  must  have  them. 
Theoretically  they  provided  restrictions  on 
the  governing  and  liberties  for  the  governed; 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        83 

practically,  the  liberties  were  for  the  gov- 
erning and  the  restrictions  were  for  the  gov- 
erned. 

Fifteen  years  or  more  of  warfare,  also, 
had  developed  among  the  Spanish  Ameri- 
cans a  blatant  and  aggressive  militarism 
that  had  to  seek  an  outlet  for  its  ebullitions. 
A  host  of  "caudillos,"  or  partisan  chief-] 
tains,  came  to  the  front,  each  of  them  claim- 
ing that  considerations  of  honor,  patriotism, 
progress  and  prosperity  required  that  all 
power  should  be  entrusted  to  him  alone. 
These  claims  were  set  forth  in  bombastic  proc- 
lamations, known  as  "pronunciamientos," 
denouncing  the  statements  made  and  meas- 
ures suggested  by  any  opposing  leader  or 
faction,  and  promising  a  dazzling  array  of 
benefits  that  would  follow  the  new  regime, 
if  established.  '  - 

Some  of  these  would-be  saviors  of  their 
country  were  doubtless  sincere  and  dis- 
interested; others  had  few  scruples  to  ob- 
serve, so  long  as  their  personal  ambitions 
could  be  satisfied.  Civil  convulsions,  checked 
by  dictators,  and  renewed  struggles  for  sta- 
bility when  the  dictators  had  been  over- 
thrown, were  the  logical  outcome  of  such 
conditions  until  order  and  progress  could 
be  attained. 

When  the  foreigner  and  his  money  came 
at  last,  it  was  only  too  often  the  case  that 


84  LATIN  AMERICA 

he  had  no  intention  of  seeking  a  new  home. 
Instead,  he  came  to  enrich  himself  and  re- 
turn to  his  own  land.  Most  of  the  repub- 
lics have  been  forced  to  rely  mainly  on  their 
own  natural  increase  in  numbers,  upon  a 
process  which,  in  view  of  the  racial  elements 
in  their  population,  has  not  always  worked 
to  their  advantage.  It  has  been  their  lot 
at  times,  also,  to  undergo  exploitation 
rather  than  development,  to  submit  to  the 
operation  of  forces  from  abroad  which  ulti- 
mately exhaust  while  they  temporarily  pro- 
duce. 

Throughout  Spanish  America  the  countries 
that  have  made  the  greatest  progress  in 
every  respect  have  been  precisely  those 
which  have  received  the  benefits  of  foreign 
immigration  and  capital  in  largest  amount. 
The  fact  goes  far  to  prove  that,  whenever 
the  republics  shall  have  become  peopled 
suflSciently,  and  have  been  afforded  the 
financial  means  to  develop  their  resources, 
materi."^  wealth  itself  will  resolve  many  of 
the  problems  with  which  they  have  had  to 
contend. 

A  study  of  these  problems,  moreover, 
leaves  the  conviction  that  most  of  what  ought 
to  be  condemned  has  sprung  from  exceptional 
causes.  Taking  their  respective  disadvan- 
tages and  misfortunes  into  account,  the 
great  majority  of  the  countries  have  made 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        85 

marked  progress  toward  a  higher  and  better 
stage  of  civilization.  Each  should  be  cred- 
ited, accordingly,  with  the  measure  of  suc- 
cess that  has  been  obtained,  and  allowance 
made  for  many  of  the  shortcomings  that  may 
still  exist. 

The  history  of  the  Spanish-American  re- 
publics during  the  half  century  that  fol- 
lowed their  establishment  as  independent 
states  may  be  roughly  divided  into  two 
periods.  Of  these  the  first,  extending  up 
to  1852,  coincided  with  the  so-called  "age 
of  the  dictators."  In  its  earlier  phases, 
and  even  while  the  revolutionary  struggle 
was  going  on,  it  was  a  time  of  political  phil- 
osophizing, of  constitutional  phrase-making 
and  of  processes  of  experimentation  in  the 
framing  of  governments,  and  in  the  adjust- 
ment of  social  conditions  to  suit  the  new 
regime  of  freedom.  Roman  names  and 
institutions,  or  titles  and  usages  borrowed 
from  Napoleonic  France,  such  as  "trium- 
virates," "consulates"  and  "directorates," 
were  especially  popular  in  the  most  southerly 
group  of  republics;  whereas  Mexico,  for  nine 
months,  even  had  an  emperor.  Efforts 
were  made  to  induce  European  princes  to 
accept  thrones  in  Spanish  America,  and 
Bolivar  himself,  toward  the  close  of  his  life, 
favored  such  a  plan.  Then,  when  the  pos- 
sibility of  limited  monarchy  proved  vain. 


86  LATIN  AMERICA 

a  republican  system  of  some  kind  was  def-1 
initely  inaugurated  everywhere. 

Meanwhile  the  power  of  the  dictator,  the 
rule  of  the  man  whose  sole  guidance  in  action 
came  from  his  own  strength  and  discretion, 
was  slowly  making  itself  manifest.  To  ex- ' 
plain  the  phenomenon,  the  theorizing  and 
experimentation  just  mentioned,  and  even 
the  military  experiences  bequeathed  by  the 
revolution  against  Spain,  are  not  sufficient. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  what  the 
leaders  of  that  movement  had  in  mind  was, 
not  the  establishment  of  a  democracy  of 
the  Greek,  French  or  American  type,  but 
rather  an  assurance  that  the  classes  already 
in  control  should  be  freed  altogether  from 
interference  on  the  part  of  the  mother 
country  and  its  representatives. 

Bolivar  was  still  more  radical  in  his  views 
and  aims.  Discounting  some  of  his  earlier 
utterances  evoked  by  the  storm  and  stress 
of  battle,  he  frankly  did  not  believe  that 
the  people  of  the  Spanish-American  repub- 
lics in  his  time  were  capable  of  self-govern- 
ment. If  this  were  generally  true  of  the 
white  population,  it  was  overwhelmingly 
the  fact  in  the  case  of  the  Indian  and  mixed 
races.  He  was  of  the  opinion,  therefore, 
that  the  citizens  of  all  classes  could  best 
acquire  the  knowledge  and  experience  they 
needed   for   political   education   by   having 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        87 

them  subjected  to  a  wise  and  kindly,  but 
jSrm  and  strong,  dictator  who  derived  his 
authority  nominally  from  a  constitution, 
but  actually  from  considerations  of  expedi- 
ency. His  term  of  office  should  be  a  long 
one,  preferably  for  hfe,  and  his  powers 
should  be  correspondingly  broad.  Such  at 
least  was  Bolivar's  ideal,  however  im- 
possible it  might  be  of   realization. 

The  political  and  social  environment  in 
which  the  dictator,  whatever  his  oflBcial 
title,  had  to  work,  was  made  up  chiefly  of 
some  nine  elements  which  operated  sep- 
arately, or  grouped  themselves  for  joint 
action,  as  circumstances  might  suggest. 
Of  these  elements  the  first  was  the  partisan 
leader,  who  represented  his  own  aspirations, 
selfish  or  altruistic,  and  received  support 
from  a  personal  or  local  constituency.  Adopt- 
ing his  ideas  or  plans,  whether  they  under- 
stood them  or  not,  his  adherents  commonly 
called  themselves  by  his  name,  with  the 
suffix  "istas"  added.  Often,  too,  they 
displayed  a  particular  color  as  an  emblem, 
and  their  attachment  to  it  was  so  fanatical  as 
to  become  what  a  Spanish-American  writer 
has  aptly  termed  "  monochromania. "  The 
other  eight  elements  were  parties  or  factions 
reflecting  to  a  large  extent  similar  groups 
in  Europe,  yet  having  some  characteristics 
of  their  own. 


88  LATIN  AMERICA 

Wliatever  the  local  designations  chosen, 
as  for  example,  the  "Yorkinos,"  (York-rite 
men)  and  the  "Escoceses"  (Scottish-rite 
men)  in  Mexico,  where  freemasonry  had 
been  early  introduced  from  the  United  States, 
the  eight  parties  or  factions  in  question  may 
be  classified  somewhat  as  follows:  the  unitary, 
the  military,  the  clerical,  the  conservative> 
the  federal,  the  civilian,  the  lay  and  the 
liberal.  In  most  cases  the  first  four  of  theSe 
groups  were  allied  against  the  last  four,  and 
vice  versa;  but  the  practice  was  far  from 
being  universal.  Though  many  of  their 
respective  leaders  had  a  clear  conception 
of  what  they  wanted,  so  much  could  not  be 
said  of  the  uneducated  masses  who  submitted 
to  their  direction.  Serving  blindly  in  the 
ranks,  they  obeyed  the  orders  of  their 
superiors,  shared  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
moment,  and  hoped  for  promised  benefits 
that  they  did  not  always  obtain,  even  if  their 
side  were  victorious. 

The  views  of  some  of  these  groups  re- 
quire a  word  of  explanation.  The  unitaries, 
for  example,  desired  a  system  of  government 
similar  to  that  which  prevailed  in  France  at 
the  time,  with  the  monarchical  element 
omitted.  That  is  to  say,  they  wished  power 
to  be  centralized  throughout,  and  to  have 
the  various  provinces  made  into  adminis- 
trative districts,  the  chief  officials  of  which 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        89 

should  be  appointed  by  the  central  author- 
ity itself.  In  the  federal  ranks  were  marshaled 
the  advocates  of  a  form  of  government  similar 
to  that  which  had  been  established  in  the 
United  States.  The  clericals  and  conserva- 
tives were  inclined  to  bar  the  entrance  of  im- 
migrants of  alien  faith,  and  regularly  upheld 
the  Roman  Church  in  all  its  prerogatives  and 
influence.  On  their  part,  the  liberals  were 
especially  opposed  to  the  control  of  that 
Church  over  public  instruction,  and  over 
other  matters  of  secular  importance. 

Out  of  the  liberals,  furthermore,  came 
radicals,  who  demanded  the  separation  of 
church  and  state,  the  abolition  of  traditional 
abuses,  and  the  introduction  of  the  reforms 
that  the  enlightened  nations  of  the  world 
had  adopted,  and  of  those  which  philoso- 
phers had  declared  to  be  imperative  for  the 
welfare  of  mankind.  Belonging  more  or 
less  to  all  the  groups  were  the  advocates  of 
presidential  authority  over  the  congress, 
of  congressional  authority  over  the  presi- 
dent, of  the  parliamentary  system,  and  of 
other  methods  of  government.  Under  such 
conditions  stability  and  progress  seemed 
almost  impossible  of  attainment.  Dictators 
were  inevitable,  and  some  of  them  were 
men  of  remarkable  character  and  ability, 
whatever  may  be  said  of  their  merits  or  de- 
merits in  general. 


90  LATIN  AMERICA 

During  the  period  up  to  1852  several 
noteworthy  political  changes  occurred.  In 
1825  the  "United  Provinces  of  the  River 
Plate"  took  the  name  of  the  "Argentine 
Confederation."  Three  years  later,  Uru- 
guay secured  its  independence  of  Brazil. 
Between  1829  and  1831  "Great  Colombia" 
broke  up  into  the  three  republics  of  Vene- 
zuela, Ecuador  and  New  Granada.  In 
1833  Chile,  alone  of  all  the  republics  of 
Spanish  America,  profited  by  their  example 
to  set  up  a  regime  practically  free  from, 
dictators  and  insurrections.  This  was  due 
chiefly  to  the  fact  that  it  was  peopled  by  the 
descendants  of  Spaniards  of  the  strongest 
and  sturdiest  type,  and  by  the  Araucanian 
Indians  who  had  much  the  same  qualities. 
Between  1838  and  1847  the  "Central  Ameri- 
can Federation"  fell  to  pieces,  and  out  of  it 
came  the  five  little  republics  of  Guatemala, 
Honduras,  Nicaragua,  Salvador  and  Costa 
Rica.  In  1844  Santo  Domingo  threw  off 
the  rule  of  Haiti  and  set  itself  up  as  the 
Dominican  Republic. 

The  second  period  in  the  history  of  na- 
tional development  in  Spanish  America, 
extending  approximately  from  1852  to  1876, 
may  be  characterized  as  "the  struggle  for 
stability."  It  was  peculiarly  the  era  of  the 
partisan  chieftain  who  had  to  contend  with 
his  rivals  for  supremacy.     The  old  type  of  ^ 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT        91 

dictator,  however,  still  survived,  and  was 
represented  in  several  cases  by  men  of 
greater  enlightenment  than  their  prede- 
cessors had  been.  Although  factional  up- 
heavals were  frequent  enough,  a  clearer 
understanding  was  obtained  in  regard  to  the 
meaning  of  constitutions,  the  methods  of 
applying  them  and  the  necessity  for  the 
spread  of  education.  Capital  cities,  like 
Buenos  Ayres,  Montevideo  and  Lima,  in 
which  the  European  population  enjoyed 
some  influence,  had  a  considerable  share 
in  the  process.  The  introduction  of  railways, 
the  establishment  of  steamship  and  tele- 
graph lines,  and  the  increasing  investment 
of  European  capital  in  other  respects,  helped 
to  restore  order  and  insure  progress.  Wars, 
also,  with  Spain  and  France,  which  checked 
further  intervention  on  the  part  of  those 
countries,  turned  to  the  ultimate  advantage 
of  the  Spanish-American  states.  In  general; 
the  results  of  the  period  may  be  summed  up 
in  the  partial  triumph  of  the  liberal,  federalist, 
lay  and  civilian  forces  against  their  more  or 
less  reactionary  opponents. 

Within  these  twenty-four  years  New  Gran- 
ada changed  its  form  of  government  from  the 
unitary  to  the  federal,  and  took  on  three 
successive  names:  the  "Granadine  Confed- 
eration," the  "United  States  of  New  Gran- 
ada" and  the  "United  States  of  Colombia." 


92  LATIN  AMERICA 

Venezuela,  similarly,  adopted  the  federal 
system,  and  called  itself  the  "United  States 
of  Venezuela. "  Among  the  southern  groups 
of  countries  the  "Argentine  Confedera- 
tion" became,  in  1853,  the  "Argentine 
Republic,"  and,  along  with  Uruguay,  be- 
gan to  devote  itself  assiduously  to  stock- 
raising  and  agriculture.  By  1874  revolu- 
tions of  a  serious  character  had  disappeared 
almost  entirely  from  the  former  state. 
In  Mexico,  furthermore,  under  the  eflBcient 
rule  of  Benito  Juarez,  a  full-blooded  Indian, 
peace  was  eventually  secured,  and  the 
country  prepared  for  the  development  of 
later  years. 

From  the  civil  wars,  the  rule  of  dictators 
and  the  political  unrest  in  general,  which 
had  disturbed  so  many  of  the  republics  of 
Spanish  America  up  to  1876,  Brazil,  or 
Portuguese  America,  was  practically  exempt. 
Declining  to  adopt  ^republican  institutions  for 
which  they  were  quite  as  unfitted  as  their 
neighbors,  the  Brazilians  wisely  accepted  the 
logic  of  their  situation  far  enough  to  set  up 
what  was  substantially  a  limited  national 
monarchy  with  a  parliamentary  regime. 
This  policy  enabled  them  to  tide  safely  over 
the  transition  from  a  foreign  autocracy  to 
a  republican  and  federal  system  that  they 
could  adopt,  whenever  their  knowledge  and 
experience   should  have  reached   the  point 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT         93 

when  it  was  safe  to  discard  the  monarchical 
element  altogether.  Except  for  local  insur- 
rections of  no  very  great  importance  during 
the  first  few  years,  the  'long  reign  of 
Dom  Pedro  II,  from  1840  to  1889,  was 
alike  peaceful  and  progressive. 

The  period  since  1876  has  been  marked 
by  an  extraordinary  degree  of  progress  in 
most  of  the  countries  of  Latin  America  I 
at  large.  Due  chiefly  to  the  stimulus  of 
capital  and  immigration  from  Europe,  and 
to  a  less  extent  from  the  United  States, 
natural  resources  have  been  developed  and 
the  means  of  transportation  and  communi- 
cation improved,  far  beyond  anything  known 
in  the  years  preceding.  These  profound 
changes  have  brought  with  them  social 
advancement,  assured  the  triumph  of  a  lib- 
eral regime,  checked  militarism,  introduced 
orderly  government,  encouraged  industry 
and  commerce,  and  given  a  tremendous 
impulse  to  educational,  intellectual  and 
artistic  endeavor. 

In  the  various  processes  doubtless  the 
most  striking  phenomenon  is  what  may  b^ 
termed  "the  rise  of  the  great  states,"  the 
attainment  by  certain  countries  of  a  position 
of  distinct  superiority  over  their  fellows. 
The  main  features  of  it  are  determined 
in  part  by  th©  extent  and  nature  of  the 
territory  possessed,  the  climatic  conditions. 


94  LATIN  AMERICA 

the  amount  of  resources  utilized,  and  by 
the  character  of  the  population,  as  well 
as  the  degree  to  which  it  has  increased 
in  numbers.  They  are  ascertained  chiefly, 
perhaps,  by  the  relative  stability,  progress, 
prosperity  and  power,  alike  material,  moral 
and  mental,  which  the  various  countries  have 
shown. 

According  to  tendencies  or  accomplish- 
ments of  this  sort,  it  is  possible  to  make  an 
approximate  classification  of  the  seven- 
teen republics  already  existing  in  1876,  and 
of  Brazil,  Cuba  and  Panama,  the  three  that 
have  been  added  to  them  since  that  time. 
They  may  be  arranged  in  three  groups,  de- 
pending upon  the  relative  degree  of  ad- 
vancement shown  by  the  members  of  each. 
Some,  of  course,  have  progressed  more  fully 
in  certain  respects  than  the  others  have  done, 
and  the  differentiation  cannot  be  fixed  abso- 
lutely in  all  cases.  To  the  first  group  belong 
the  Argentine  Republic,  Brazil,  Chile,  Uru- 
guay and  Costa  Rica.  In  the  second  may  be 
placed  Mexico,  Peru,  Bolivia,  Cuba,  Sal- 
ivador,  Colombia,  Venezuela  and  Panama. 
In  the  third  category  are  found  Guatemala,^ 
Ecuador,  Paraguay,  the  Dominican  Repub- 
lic, Haiti,  Nicaragua  and  Honduras.  I 

Since  the  leading  characteristics  of  the 
more  recent  development  and  of  present 
conditions  in  the  Latin-American  countries 


NATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT         95 

will  be  brought  out  in  the  descriptive  chap- 
ters following  the  account  of  international 
relations,  only  a  few  incidents  of  especial  im- 
portance remain  to  be  chronicled.  From 
1876  to  1880,  and  from  1884  to  191 1,  when 
he  was  overthrown  by  a  revolution  and 
forced  to  quit  the  country,  Porfirio  Diaz, 
one  of  the  most  able  and  talented  adminis- 
trators of  modern  times,  ruled  Mexico  with  an 
iron  hand,  but  gave  it  the  blessings  of  peace 
and  opened  its  wondrous  resources  to  the 
world.  Since  then  political  convulsions 
and  irregular  methods  of  administration, 
like  those  of  earlier  days,  have  caused 
Mexico  to  fall  away  from  the  advanced  posi- 
tion that  it  held  so  long.  In  1886  the  "United 
States  of  Colombia"  changed  its  form  of 
government  from  the  federal  to  the  unitary, 
and  its  name  to  the  "Republic  of  Colombia. " 
The  most  significant  events  in  Brazil  were 
the  final  abolition  of  negro  slavery  in  1888, 
and  the  establishment  of  a  federal  republic 
under  the  name  of  the  "United  States  of 
Brazil,"  a  year  later,  by  the  simple  expedi- 
ent of  expelling  the  imperial  family.  Chile, 
in  1891,  after  an  armed  conflict  between  the 
president  and  the  congress,  put  an  end  to 
what  the  latter  feared  was  likely  to  become 
a  presidential  autocracy.  Through  the  inter- 
vention of  the  United  States,  Cuba  won  its 
independence  of  Spain  in  1898.     Five  years 


'f 
96  LATIN  AMERICA 

later,  the  province  of  Panama  seceded  from 
Colombia,  and  became  the  twentieth  repub- 
lic in  Latin  America. 

CHAPTER  IX 

INTERNATIONAL   RELATIONS 

Among  the  Latin-American  countries 
themselves,  one  of  the  chief  matters  of  dis-  ; 
pute  has  had  to  do  with  the  determination 
of  boundaries.  During  the  colonial  period  j 
practically  no  serious  effort  was  made  to 
fix  any  frontier  lines  among  the  various 
provinces,  the  result  being  that,  after  the 
colonies  had  won  their  independence,  they 
were  unable,  for  many  years,  to  ascertain 
what  their  territorial  limits  were.  Although 
boundary  questions  at  times  have  almost 
brought  on  war,  a  great  majority  of  them 
have  been  settled,  either  by  diplomatic 
adjustment  or  by  foreign  arbitration. 

Virtually  the  sole  case  in  which  an  issue 
of  disputed  territory  led  to  warfare  was  that 
concerning  a  small  part  of  the  west  coast 
of  South  America.  The  difficulty  arose 
originally  in  connection  with  the  exploi- 
tation of  deposits  of  nitrate  of  soda,  found 
in  the  "Desert  of  Atacama."  As  the  result 
of  the  so-called  "War  of  the  Pacific"  (1879- 
1883),  between  Chile  on  the  one  side  and 


INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS       97 

Bolivia  allied  with  Peru  on  the  other,  Chile 
acquired  possession  of  the  coast  area  formerly 
belonging  to  Bolivia,  and  of  the  provinces 
of  Tacna  and  Arica,  which  had  been  part  of 
Peru.  According  to  the  treaty  of  peace,  in 
1884,  it  was  agreed  that  Chile  should  hold 
Tacna  and  Arica  for  ten  years,  at  the  close 
of  which  period  the  question  of  ultimate 
•ownership  should  be  submitted  to  a  pop- 
ular vote  in  the  provinces  themselves.  No 
solution  of  the  problem  has  been  attained 
since  then,  largely  because  the  two  countries 
have  been  unable  to  reach  an  understanding 
as  to  the  way  in  which  the  vote  should  be 
taken. 

Another  serious  source  of  contention 
among  the  Spanish-American  republics  has 
been  the  disposition  of  some  of  them  to 
interfere  in  one  another's  affairs.  On  ac- 
count of  the  essential  similarity  among 
them,  it  has  often  been  possible  to  prepare 
expeditions  in  one  state  for  the  purpose  of 
overthrowing  the  government  of  another. 
This  has  given  rise  to  numerous  colli- 
sions and  to  the  creation  of  a  sharp  resent- 
ment, not  so  much  between  the  peoples 
themselves,  as  between  a  president,  whose 
position  was  threatened,  and  another  presi- 
dent who  might  be  protecting  his  enemy. 
Ease  of  alliance,  furthermore,  between  the 
political  parties  of  different  countries  has 


98  LATIN  AMERICA 

been  apt  to  make  domestic  politics  a  matter 
of  international  concern. 

Although  issues  of  the  sort  were  found  in 
the  period  immediately  following  indepen- 
dence, when  the  rulers  of  the  Argentine 
Confederation,  Brazil  and  Paraguay  strug- 
gled for  control  over  the  destinies  of  Uruguay, 
and  later,  between  1865  and  1870,  when 
Brazil,  Uruguay  and  the  Argentine  Repub- 
lic engaged  in  a  frightful  war  with  Paraguay, 
which  killed  off  most  of  the  male  population 
of  that  country,  the  chief  center  of  disturb- 
ance has  been  located  in  Central  America. 
Both  because  and  in  spite  of  numerous 
efforts  made  to  restore  the  federal  system, 
the  relations  among  the  five  little  republics 
in  this  area  have  often  been  far  from  pleas- 
ant. The  states  usually  involved  in  quarrels 
have  been  Guatemala,  Honduras  and  Nicara- 
gua. Salvador  has  been  less  concerned  in 
them,  and  Costa  Rica,  least  of  all.  How- 
ever, the  holding  of  a  peace  conference  at 
Washington,  in  1907,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  and  the 
measures  which  have  followed  it,  such  as  the 
establishment  of  an  international  court  and 
of  periodical  conferences  for  the  adjustment 
of  matters  in  dispute,  encourage  the  hope  that 
such  disorders  will  soon  be  a  thing  of  the  past. 

In  the  diplomatic  world  at  large  the 
Latin-American  repubHcs  appear  to  occupy 


INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS       99 

a  somewhat  anomalous  position.  As  one 
of  their  own  writers  has  recently  observed: 
they  are  "situated  on  the  margin  of  inter- 
national life,  in  a  zone  where  no  one  either 
denies  or  affirms  their  individuality."  This 
fact  became  apparent  soon  after  they  had 
won  their  independence,  and  gave  rise  to  a 
series  of  plans  to  provide  for  the  republics 
as  a  whole  an  international  representation 
that  might  inspire  greater  respect  and  con- 
fidence. 

The  earliest  manifestation  of  an  idea  of 
this  kind  was  the  holding  at  Panama,  in 
1826,  of  a  congress  called  by  Bolivar  to  ' 
convince  the  nations  of  continental  Europe  | 
that  the  republics  of  Latin  America  should 
be  recognized  as  independent  states.  Though 
various  attempts  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
the  countries  into  closer  political  connec- 
tion were  made  even  as  late  as  1865,  the 
Congress  of  Panama,  in  fact,  was  the  nearest 
approach  to  a  confederation  that  they  have 
ever  known. 

That  the  Latin  Ajnericans  should  resent 
the  attitude  occasionally  shown  them  by  the 
great  powers  of  the  world  is  only  natural, 
and  is  finding  constant  expression.  In  their 
opinion,  size,  numbers  and  wealth  should 
not  be  regarded  as  alone  entitling  nations 
to  due  recognition.  If  they  are  equally 
sovereign  and  independent,  they  are  equally 


100  LATIN  AMERICA 

worthy  of  respect  and  consideration.  Such 
being  the  case,  the  repubHcs  of  Latin  America 
should  be  treated  by  the  great  states  of  the 
world  precisely  on  the  same  footing  of 
mutual  esteem  as  those  states  treat  one 
another. 

Assuming  that  what  they  assert  as  their 
national  rights  are  respected,  the  Latin- 
American  countries  have  been  ardent  ex- 
ponents of  the  principle  of  international 
arbitration.  The  Argentine  Republic  and 
Chile  have  furnished  the  first  and  only  ex-. 
ample  of  the  realization  of  the  essential 
purpose  underlying  the  meeting  of  the  first 
peace  conference  at  The  Hague,  by  agree- 
ing, in  1902,  on  a  limitation  of  armaments. 
Thorough  accord,  also,  resting  in  part  on  the 
basis  of  arbitration,  exists  among  the  three 
great  states,  the  Argentine  Republic,  Brazil 
and  Chile,  and  is  revealed  in  an  international 
understanding,  popularly  referred  to  as  the 
"A,  B,C  Alliance." 

Apart  from  the  processes  of  adjusting 
a  few  boundary  disputes  between  Great 
Britain  and  France,  on  the  one  side,  and 
certain  Latin-American  countries  the  terri- 
tories of  which  adjoin  the  colonial  possessions 
of  those  powers,  on  the  other,  the  inter- 
national differences  affecting  the  relations 
between  the  Latin-American  republics  and 
European   states   have  had   to   do   mainly 


INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS      101 

with  two  matters.    These  are:  the  attempts 
of  such  states   to  acquire  territory  or  do- 
minion at  the  expense  of  the  republics  in  I 
question,   and  the  disputes  concerning  the 
settlement  of  pecuniary  claims. 

Taking  advantage  of  the  plight  in  which 
the  United  States  found  itself  between  1861 
and  1865,  Spain  proceeded  to  occupy  the 
Dominican  Republic,  and  to  take  possession 
of  certain  islands  off  the  coast  of  Peru  in 
the  possible  hope  of  reconquering  that 
country.  Though  in  1865  Spain  relinquished 
its  hold  on  both  of  these  areas,  it  became 
involved  in  a  war  with  Chile  and  Peru  in 
the  following  year,  which  ended  in  its  dis- 
comfiture. From  1862  to  1867,  also,  the 
forces  of  Napoleon  III  of  France  controlled 
Mexico  in  the  interests  of  what  that  monarch 
hoped  would  be  practically  an  extension  of 
the  French  Empire  of  the  time,  and  left  the 
country  only  after  the  United  States  had 
begun  to  mass  troops  on  the  Mexican  border. 

Most  of  the  diflSculties  that  have  arisen, 
between  Latin- American  countries  and  Euro- 
pean nations,  however,  have  been  connected 
with  efforts  to  settle  pecuniary  claims. 
From  1820  onward  the  republics  have  been 
large  borrowers  from  European  states,  and 
from  Great  Britain  in  particular.  Conces- 
sions, moreover,  have  been  obtained  by 
Europeans,    which,    because    of    disturbed 


UiMVERSIi'i  Ov  CALIFORNIA" 


102  LATIN  AMERICA 

political  and  financial  conditions,  could 
not  always  be  made  effective.  This  has 
resulted  in  the  non-payment  of  loans,  in 
undue  delay  in  the  payment  of  principal  and 
interest,  in  the  personal  injury  of  foreigners, 
or  in  the  seizure  or  destruction  of  their 
property.  Though  all  of  the  republics 
have  been  involved  at  one  time  or  another 
in  disputes  of  the  sort,  the  lands  in  and 
around  the  Caribbean  Sea,  and  of  late  years 
particularly  Venezuela,  the  Dominican  Re- 
public, Haiti,  Guatemala,  Nicaragua  and 
Honduras,  have  been  the  centers  of  conflict. 
Since  the  constitutions  of  their  respective 
countries  usually  grant  to  foreigners  the 
same  civil  rights  and  privileges  as  those 
given  to  native  born  or  naturalized  citizens, 
Latin-American  publicists  hold  that  foreign 
nations  are  not  entitled  to  demand  that 
the  procedure  to  be  followed  in  case  of  dispute 
should  be  any  different  from  that  which 
those  nations  would  observe  as  between 
their  own  respective  citizens.  That  is  to 
say,  if  a  foreigner,  residing  or  having  inter- 
ests in  any  one  of  the  republics,  suffers  in- 
jury in  person  or  property,  he  should  make 
use  of  the  same  measures  of  redress  as  a  native 
or  naturalized  citizen  would,  by  appealing 
to  the  national  courts.  Were  it  proved  that 
such  courts,  for  any  reason,  could  not,  or 
would  not,  afford  substantial  justice,  then. 


INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS     103 

and  then  only,  should  the  foreigner  have 
recourse  to  diplomatic  intervention.  If 
adjustment  by  this  means  should  fail  also, 
the  final  remedy  ought  to  be  sought  for  in 
arbitration.  Force,  according  to  the  so- 
called  "Drago  Doctrine"  of  1902,  should 
never  be  employed  among  nations  for  the 
collection  of  contractual  debts. 

On  his  part,  the  concessionaire  has  often 
taken  the  stand  that,  in  countries  where 
the  judges  were  controlled  by  the  president 
or  congress,  or  at  all  events  did  not  enjoy 
judicial  independence,  the  courts  were  ob- 
viously unable  or  unwilling  to  treat  foreigners 
fairly.  He  would  then  appeal  to  his  own  gov- 
ernment for  redress.  This  has  been  secured, 
not  only  by  means  of  diplomacy  and  arbi- 
tration, but  by  displays  of  force.  Warships 
have  been  sent  to  overawe  the  offending 
countries,  their  ports  have  been  blockaded, 
their  vessels  seized  and  their  seaports  bom- 
barded. On  rare  occasions  their  ports  and 
custom-houses  have  been  occupied,  but  never 
for  a  great  length  of  time,  because  of  the  fact 
that  any  action  of  the  kind  was  regarded 
by  the  United  States  as  a  violation  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine. 

With  the  Latin-American  republics  situ- 
ated in  general  between  the  Rio  Grande  and 
the  Amazon,  the  relations  of  the  United 
States  have  been  very  different  from  those 


104  LATIN  AMERICA 

which  it  has  maintained  with  the  countries 
lying  to  the  south  of  the  Amazon;  and  the 
circumstance  goes  far  to  show  that  these  south- 
ern lands  have  had  a  much  closer  connection 
with  Europe.  While  its  relationship  with 
the  former  group  is  marked  by  a  number  of 
striking  events  and  decisive  acts,  directed 
throughout  by  a  fairly  continuous  and  steady 
policy,  that  with  the  latter  group  has  been 
somewhat  vague,  intermittent  and  incon- 
clusive. 

The  attitude  of  the  United  States  in  these 
respects  has  been  determined  chiefly  by 
two  considerations.  Of  these,  one  is  the 
question  of  distance.  With  its  neighbors 
around  the  Caribbean  Sea  and  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  the  degree  of  intimacy,  naturally, 
would  be  closer  than  in  the  case  of  those 
found  to  the  southward.  It  might  be  said, 
also,  that  the  communities  located  withm 
this  area,  which  have  a  population  largely  of 
Indian,  negro  and  mixed  descent,  are  not  Euro- 
pean in  the  sense  in  which  the  republics  lying 
in  the  southern  part  of  South  America  are. 

Broadly  considered,  the  relations  of  the 
United  States  with  the  republics  of  Latin 
America,  and  especially  with  those  of  the 
region  lying  to  the  north  of  the  Amazon, 
have  concerned  the  determination  of  boun- 
daries, the  prevention  of  filibustering,  the 
acquisition  of  territory  and  the  furnishing 


INTERNATIONAL  RELATIONS      105 

of  assistance  in  the  formation  of  new  re- 
publics. They  have  had  to  do  with  the  pro- 
tection of  American  citizens  and  their  prop- 
erty, the  preservation  of  order,  the  ofifering 
of  mediation  between  belhgerent  countries, 
and  the  enforcement  of  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine. They  have  inchided,  furthermore,  the 
maintenance  of  headship  among  the  inde- 
pendent nations  of  America,  and  the  pro- 
motion of  "Pan-Americanism" — the  recog- 
nition of  a  similarity  of  problems  and  inter- 
ests among  those  nations,  which  suggests 
cooperation    for    their    effective    solution. 

Not  considerations  of  the  Monroe  Doc- 
trine so  much  as  the  desire  and  purpose  to 
maintain  its  political  preponderance  in  the 
Western  Hemisphere,  to  promote  its  comiper- 
cial  aggrandizement,  and  to  strengthen 
throughout  the  Latin-American  countries  a 
sense  of  inter-American  solidarity,  '  have 
shaped  the  major  part  of  the  policy  of  the 
United  States  toward  them,  more  particu- 
larly in  recent  years.  To  these  several  ends, 
notably  in  the  Caribbean  region,  it  has  ac- 
quired naval  stations,  and  has  negotiated 
for  others.  It  has  asserted  its  right  to  sole 
ownership  in  any  waterway  to  be  con- 
structed between  the  two  oceans. 

In  that  region  and  even  farther  to  the 
southward,  the  United  States  has  intervened 
in   the   internal    affairs    of   Latin-American 


106  LATIN  AMERICA 

nations,  to  maintain  order,  to  insure  fair 
elections,  to  rehabilitate  finances,  to  enforce 
rules  of  sanitation  and  to  investigate  reports ' 
of  ill-treatment  of  Indians.  In  fact,  it  has 
introduced  into  supposedly  independent  and 
sovereign  states  a  kind  of  political  tutelage 
unknown  elsewhere  in  the  world. 

So  as  to  promote  the  idea  of  "Pan-Ameri- 
canism," the  United  States  inaugurated,  in 
1889,  what  is  known  officially  as  the  "In- 
ternational Conference  of  American  States,'* 
and  popularly  as  the  "Pan-American  Con- 
ference," composed  of  delegates  from  all  of 
the  independent  nations  of  the  New  World. 
With  the  cooperation  of  the  Latin-American 
republics,  also,  it  established  at  Washington, 
in  the  same  year,  an  international  office, 
now  called  the  "Pan-American  Union," 
for  the  diffusion  of  information  that  would 
tend  to  tighten  the  bonds  of  friendship  among 
them.  Although  the  conference  in  question 
is  an  assembly  of  deliberation  and  proposi- 
tion only,  the  conventions  and  resolutions, 
which  it  has  passed  at  its  periodical  meetings 
since  1889,  have  been  framed  with  the  pur- 
pose of  suggesting  to  the  governments 
of  the  countries  concerned  a  course  of  action 
on  given  points,  which  might  be  helpful 
in  solving  many  of  the  difficulties  that  con- 
front the  process  of  advancement  toward 
national  welfare. 


GEOGRAPHY         107 
CHAPTER  X 

GEOGRAPHY  AND  RESOURCES 

The  twenty  republics  of  Latin  America 
stretch  over  an  area  of  nine  million  square 
miles,  or  approximately  three  times  that  of 
the  United  States.  Brazil  alone  is  larger 
than  that  country,  and  the  Argentine  Re- 
public nearly  two  thirds  as  large.  Bolivia 
and  Venezuela  could  each  contain  two 
states  the  size  of  Texas,  and  have  plenty  of 
room  to  spare;  Chile,  two  the  size  of  Cali- 
fornia; and  Ecuador,  all  of  New  England, 
plus  New  York  and  New  Jersey.  Mexico 
is  seven  times  as  large  as  Italy.  Two  German 
Empires  could  be  put  into  Colombia,  and 
France,  Austria-Hungary  and  the  German 
Empire,  also,  into  Peru. 

Among  the  smaller  countries,  the  three 
island  republics  together  are  almost  as  large 
as  the  State  of  Minnesota,  and  Uruguay 
is  about  equal  in  area  to  North  Dakota. 
The  six  Central-American  republics,  in- 
cluding Panama,  taken  together,  are  not  far 
from  double  the  size  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland;  and  Paraguay  is  nearly  twice  as  large 
as  England,  Wales  and  Scotland  combined. 

Brazil  occupies  more  than  half  of  the  con- 
tinent of  South  America.  It  stretches  along 
the  Atlantic  seaboard    nearly  6,000   miles. 


108  LATIN  AMERICA 

and  its  frontiers  touch  those  of  every  South 
American  country  with  the  exception  of 
Chile. .  Though  Chile  is  about  3,000  miles 
long,  it  has  an  average  breadth  of  scarcely 
seventy  miles.  Bolivia  and  Paraguay  are 
the  only  republics  that  lie  wholly  inland. 
Salvador,  the  smallest  of  the  Latin-American 
countries,  is  about  one  haK  the  size  of  Swit- 
zerland, and  is  the  only  state  of  Central 
America  which  does  not  reach  from  ocean  to 
ocean. 

The  continent  of  South  America  itself 
extends  some  2,600  miles  to  the  eastward  of 
New  York,  and  the  southern  part  of  it,  on 
the  Atlantic  side,  lies  practically  as  near 
to  Europe  as  it  does  to  the  United  States. 
The  vast  interior,  covering  possibly  two 
million  square  miles,  has  yet  to  be  fully 
explored. 

Though  the  island  republics  are  provided 
with  excellent  harbors,  so  much  cannot  be 
said  of  the  shores  of  the  Caribbean  Sea  in 
general.  Along  the  entire  circuit  of  this 
"American  Mediterranean,"  a  distance  of 
12,000  miles,  or  nearly  half  the  circumfer- 
ence of  the  globe,  roadsteads  exposed  to 
fierce  gales  are  the  rule,  and  even  Vera 
Cruz  is  far  from  safe.  The  best  ports  of 
Mexico,  in  fact,  are  found  on  the  Pacific 
side.  Along  the  west  coast  of  South  America 
most  of  the  harbors   are  also  very  poor. 


GEOGRAPHY  109 

though  much  has  been  done  of  late  years  to 
render  the  Chilean  port  of  Vj4>araiso  safer 
and  more  commodious  thaU  '  it  formerly 
was. 

Good  harbors  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of 
South  America  are  quite  numerous.  That  of 
Rio  de  Janeiro  is  probably  the  finest  and 
most  beautiful  in  the  world.  Buenos  Ayres, 
though  a  river  port,  has  been  made  of  great 
value  through  an  elaborate  system  of  stone 
docks,  and  Montevideo  has  been  much 
improved  by  a  series  of  extensive  harbor 
works.  Landing  facilities,  as  a  rule,  through- 
out the  Latin-American  countries,  are  in- 
comparably better  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard 
than  they  are  on  the  Pacific  side. 

In  the  island  republics,  in  Mexico  and  in 
the  states  of  Central  America  the  climate  at 
sea  level  averages  80  degrees  in  summer  and 
falls  to  72  degrees  in  winter.  Costa  Rica 
is  probably  the  healthiest  tropical  country 
in  Latin  America.  Throughout  the  region 
lying  between  central  Mexico,  on  the  one 
part,  and  northern  Chile,  the  Argentine 
Republic  and  southern  Brazil,  on  the  other, 
climatic  conditions  are  determined  by  alti- 
tude rather  than  by  nearness  or  remoteness 
to  the  equator.  In  the  mountainous  areas, 
which  here  predominate,  exclusive  of  most 
of  Brazil,  the  zones  of  temperature  are 
arranged  more  or    less  in    vertical   order. 


110  LATIN  AMERICA 

and  may  be  described  as  the  hot,  temperate, 
cold  and  frigid.  Above  the  altitude  of 
about  8,000  feet,  mountain-sickness 
("soroche"  or  "puna")  is  not  uncommon. 

Since  latitude  is  neutralized  by  elevation, 
many  of  the  plateaus  in  what  are  ordinarily 
regarded  as  tropical  countries  have  a 
delightful  climate,  corresponding  in  tempera- 
ture to  the  spring  and  autumn  of  the  tem- 
perate zone;  and  the  extremes  of  winter  and 
summer  are  practically  unknown.  The  al- 
ternating seasons,  following  the  regular 
course  of  the  sun,  are  determined  by  the 
varying  degrees  of  moisture  and  dryness, 
rather  than  by  those  of  heat  and  cold.  The 
wet  seasons  are  the  summers,  and  the  dry 
seasons  the  winters.  Were  one  to  stand  on 
the  equator  and  then  go  up  into  the  moun- 
tains one  mile,  the  temperature  and  the  vege- 
tation found  there  would  be  substantially 
the  same  as  those  of  regions  1,500  miles  due 
north  or  south  of  the  equator,  and  if  two  miles 
upward,  about  the  same  as  those  prevalent 
in  areas  2,500  miles  north  or  south  of  that 
line. 

With  the  exception,  therefore,  of  the  lands 
lying  along  the  sea  coast  and  of  the  central 
portion  of  South  America,  notably  of  parts 
of  Brazil,  the  climate  of  the  Latin-American 
countries  situated  between  the  two  tropics 
is  not  universally  hot,  or  even  warm.     In 


GEOGRAPHY  111 

the  far  southern  part  of  South  America  it 
ranges  from  temperate  to  cold.  South  of  the 
equator,  of  course,  the  seasons  are  more  or 
less  the  reverse  of  what  they  are  to  the 
north  of  that  line;  so  that  when  it  is  sununer 
in  New  York,  for  example,  it  is  winter  in 
Buenos  Ayres. 

The  Atlantic  slopes  of  Latin  America,  ex- 
posed to  the  eastern  trade  winds,  have  a 
rainfall  about  double  that  on  the  Pacific 
side.  On  the  shores  of  the  republics  lying 
north  of  South  America,  also,  the  tides  vary 
considerably  with  the  seasons.  At  Panama, 
for  instance,  on  the  Pacific  side,  they  are 
much  higher  than  they  are  at  Colon  on  the 
Caribbean-Atlantic  side.  On  the  former 
they  are  about  as  high  in  feet  as  they  are 
on  the  latter  in  inches. 

In  South  America  the  trade  winds,  setting 
steadily  from  east  to  west,  sweep  up  the 
valley  of  the  Amazon  till  they  encounter 
the  eastern  slopes  of  the  Andes.  Here  the 
moisture-laden  clouds  discharge  most  of  their 
contents  in  rain  or  snow.  As  they  pro- 
gress still  farther  westward  across  the  pla- 
teaus and  summits,  the  winds  become  cold 
and  dry,  and  hardly  a  drop  of  rain  falls 
along  the  central  portion  of  the  west  coast. 
In  this  area  moisture  in  the  shape  of  a  very 
humid  fog  or  vapor  furnishes  the  rather 
scanty  vegetation  with  a  certain  amount  of 


112  LATIN  AMERICA 

nourishment  during  the  winter  season,  from 
May  to  December. 

Taking  the  republics  of  Latin  America  as  a 
whole,  the  conditions  of  health  are  far  better 
than  is  commonly  supposed.  Though  yellow 
fever,  malaria  and  contagious  diseases  are 
found  at  times  in  the  tropical  areas,  the  vig- 
orous campaigns  carried  on  against  the  mos- 
quito and  other  agencies  of  infection  have 
shown  very  gratifying  results.  Among  the 
poorer  classes,  however,  in  the  crowded  sec- 
tions of  the  cities  and  in  many  of  the  country 
districts,  ignorance  of  the  elementary  prin- 
ciples of  hygiene  is  often  productive  of 
a  high  death  rate,  especially  in  the  case  of 
children  less  than  five  years  of  age. 

In  the  island  republics  the  surface  of  the 
land  ranges  from  hilly  to  mountainous. 
On  the  continents,  all  the  way  from  Mexico 
to  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  runs  a  series  of 
mountain  chains,  breaking  up  in  the  extreme 
south  into  numerous  islands.  The  mean 
altitude  of  the  Andes,  the  giant  range  that 
forms  the  backbone  of  western  South  America, 
is  about  14,000  feet,  and,  next  to  the  Himal- 
aya, is  the  loftiest  range  in  the  world.  Its 
higher  peaks  rise  between  15,000  feet  and 
23,000  feet  above  sea  level.  South  of  Vene- 
zuela and  in  the  eastern  and  southern  areas 
of  Brazil,  the  various  mountain  ranges  are 
considerably  lower,  their  mean  altitude  in 


GEOGRAPHY  113 

the  latter  country  being  anywhere  between 
4,000  and  5,000  feet. 

In  Mexico,  Central  America  and  northwest- 
ern South  America  there  are  hundreds  of 
volcanoes,  active  and  extinct,  disposed  cither 
in  groups  or  in'a  long  lineof  coupes  and  craters. 
Ecuador,  in  particular,  has  a  veritable 
"avenue  of  volcanoes,"  the  magnitude  and 
sublimity  of  which  are  probably'unequaled  in 
the  world.  Throughout  this  region,  and 
even  southward  into  Chile,  where  the  smok- 
ing mountains,  for  the  most  part,  have  been 
long  since  quiescent,  earthquakes  are  apt 
to  be  frequent. 

Vast  table-lands  stretch  over  central  Mex- 
ico and  over  the  countries  of  northwestern 
South  America.  In  Bolivia  they  aye  sur- 
passed in  extent  and  altitude  only  by  the 
plateau  of  Tibet.  Here  and  elsewhere  in  the 
mountain  areas  are  found  some  of  the 
most  loftily  situated  capitals  in  the  world. 
The  scenery ,  especially  in  the  valley  and  table- 
land of  Mexico,  is  wondrously  beautiful 
and  picturesque. 

In  the  central  portion  of  the  Argentine 
Republic  are  found  the  vast,  almost  treeless, 
grass-grown  plains,  known  as  the  "pampas." 
Eastward  through  Uruguay  and  southern 
Brazil  the  land  becomes  rolling,  but  has 
much  the  same  sort  of  vegetation. 

Few  of  the  republics  are  provided  with 


114  LATIN  AMERICA 

lakes  of  any  size.  Those  of  Guatemala, 
Nicaragua,  Mexico,  the  southern  part  of 
Chile,  the  Argentine  Republic  and  Brazil  are 
noteworthy;  but  none  of  them  compares 
with  Lake  Titicaca  on  the  heights  of  Bolivia. 
The  loftiest  body  of  water  in  the  world,  it 
lies  upward  of  12,000  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  sea,  and  covers  an  area  of  3,300  square 
miles,  or  somewhat  less  than  half  the  ex- 
tent of  Lake  Ontario. 

Except  for  the  Rio  Grande,  forming  part 
of  the  boundary  between  Mexico  and  the 
United  States,  and  the  Colorado,  which  pene- 
trates for  a  short  distance  into  Mexico 
also,  none  of  the  Latin  republics  of  North 
America  has  any  large  rivers.  Most  of  the 
rivers,  in  fact,  are  merely  coast  streams  with 
short,  rapid  courses,  and  are  unfit  for  navi- 
gation. 

In  South  America  the  situation  is  alto- 
gether different.  Here  are  many  mighty 
rivers,  such  as  the  Amazon,  the  Parana, 
Paraguay  and  River  Plate  system,  the 
Orinoco  and  the  Magdalena.  Brazil,  in 
particular,  is  covered  with  a  vast  intricate 
net- work  of  streams,  most  of  which  are  afflu- 
ents of  the  Amazon.  The  drainage  area  of 
this  river  and  its  tributaries  extends  over 
2,970,000  square  miles,  and  the  volume  of 
water  that  they  discharge  annually  into  the 
ocean  is  probably  five  times  as  much  as  that 


GEOGRAPHY  115 

of  the  Mississippi.  Vessels  of  small  draught 
can  go  up  the  Amazon  proper  more  than 
3,600  miles.  The  river  system,  as  a  whole, 
furnishes  about  27,000  miles  of  navigable 
waterways.  Despite  the  fact  that  the 
affluents,  in  many  cases,  are  obstructed  by 
rapids  and  falls,  it  affords  the  most  elabo- 
rate and  economical  means  of  transportation 
to  be  found  anywhere  in  the  world. 

The  drainage  areas  of  the  Parana,  Para- 
guay, River  Plate  and  Uruguay  amount 
to  about  1,200,000  square  miles,  and  by  the 
Paraguay  vessels  can  navigate  clear  up  into 
the  very  heart  of  Brazil.  The  estuary  of  the 
River  Plate,  formed  by.  the  junction  of  the 
Parana  and  the  Uruguay,  pours  out  more 
water  into  the  ocean  than  any  other  river 
in  America,  except  the  Amazon.  Next 
in  order  comes  the  Orinoco,  with  a  drainage 
area  of  364,500  square  miles,  and  the  Mag- 
dalena,  the  fourth  largest  river  in  Latin 
America,  along  with  its  numerous  affluents, 
drains  about  100,000  square  miles.  In 
the  extreme  south  of  the  southern  conti- 
nent lies  still  another  waterway,  the  Straits 
of  Magellan,  which  have  a  total  length  of 
340  miles. 

All  of  the  republics  possess  streams,  the 
falls  and  rapids  of  which  make  possible  the 
use  on  a  large  scale  of  hydro-electric  plants 
to  supply  power.     In  this  source  of  energy 


116  LATIN  AMERICA 

Brazil  stands  foremost,  especially  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  country.  The  falls  of 
the  Iguazii,  for  example,  flowing  into  the 
upper  Parana,  range  over  an  area  of  more 
than  two  miles,  with  a  total  fall  of  320 
feet;  and  there  are  many  others  of  tremen- 
dous volume. 

In  the  island  republics,  indigenous  animals, 
reptiles  and  birds  are  few  in  comparison 
with  those  of  the  neighboring  mainlands. 
Mexico  is  a  region  of  transition  between  the 
northern  and  southern  continents;  but  here, 
as  well  as  in  the  countries  of  Central  America, 
the  variety  of  birds  and  reptiles  is  almost  as 
large  as  that  of  the  tropical  areas  in  central 
South  America.  One  of  the  most  beautiful 
of  the  birds  is  the  quetzal  of  Guatemala,  a 
species  of  parrot.  A  bird  of  freedom,  it 
never  survives  captivity,  even  when  taken 
during  early  life.  In  Aztec  times  its  plumage 
was  reserved  for  royalty. 

In  the  mountainous  regions  of  western 
South  America  are  found  several  species  of 
the  "American  camel."  These  are  the 
llama,  vicuna,  alpaca  and  guanaco,  which 
supply  an  excellent  quality  of  wool.  Here, 
also,  flying  over  the  Andean  heights  is  found 
the  condor,  or  so-called  "South  American 
eagle,"  a  huge  bird  resembling  the  vulture. 

Brazil  and  the  areas  of  the  Spanish- 
American   republics   immediately   bordering 


RESOURCES  117 

on  it  teem  with  animal  life  of  extraordinary 
variety,  including  the  jaguar,  and  other  mem- 
bers of  the  feline  tribe,  the  ant-eater,  the  tapir 
and  the  peccary,  reptiles  of  nearly  everj'^  de- 
scription, andhugesnakes.  Monkeys  are  well- 
nigh  innumerable.  Among  them  is  the  soci- 
able order  of  howling  monkeys,  who  perform 
their  musical  feats  under  the  direction  of 
a  chief  howler.  Almost  one  sixth  of  all  the 
birds  of  the  world  are  found  in  Brazil  alone. 
Here,  also,  are  countless  varieties  of  insects, 
venomous  and  otherwise;  and  more  than 
1,800  species  of  JBsh  swim  in  its  rivers  and 
lakes. 

When  estimating  the  value  of  the  natural 
resources  of  the  Latin-American  states,  one 
must  take  into  account  certain  obstacles 
that  lie  in  the  way  of  their  development. 
There  are  vast  stretches  of  waste  land,  es- 
pecially in  the  mountainous  areas;  and  in  the 
tropical  sections  there  are  huge  swamps  and 
miasmic  forests  as  well.  The  resources,  fur- 
thermore, are  often  inaccessible  because  of 
poor  facilities  of  transportation.  If  rail- 
ways were  to  be  built,  the  engineering 
difficulties  presented  at  tunes  would  make 
the  construction  so  costly  as  to  destroy  the 
possibility  of  ultimate  profit.  Despite  these 
obstacles,  the  wealth  in  mines,  forests  and 
soil  is  astounding,  and  even  now  is  only  just 
beginning  to  be  made  useful  to  mankind. 


118  LATIN  AMERICA 

Though  practically  all  of  the  republics 
are  rich  in  mineral  substances,  Mexico, 
Colombia,  Bolivia,  Chile,  Peru  and  southern 
Brazil  are  the  chief  mining  centers.  Mexico 
is  noted  for  its  silver,  copper,  iron,  petro- 
leum, precious  and  semi-precious  stones 
and  gold;  Colombia,  for  its  platinum  and 
emeralds;  Bolivia,  for  its  tin,  silver,  copper 
and  bismuth;  Chile,  for  its  nitrate  of  soda, 
copper,  salt,  sulphur  and  coal;  Peru,  for 
its  silver, copper  and  petroleum;  and  southern 
Brazil,  to  a  much  less  extent,  for  its  diamonds, 
gold,  iron  and  coal.  Among  the  republics 
of  Central  America,  Honduras  contains 
probably  the  largest  mineral  deposits.  Vene- 
zuela is  richly  stored  with  asphalt.  Many 
of  the  states,  particularly  Mexico  and 
Peru,  are  supplied  with  excellent  mineral 
springs. 

So  far  as  forest  products  are  concerned, 
nearly  every  country  of  Latin  America 
abounds  in  trees  of  the  most  varied  utility. 
Mahogany,  rosewood,  ebony  and  other  cab- 
inet woods,  and  timber  of  extraordinary 
hardness  and  durability,  are  scattered 
through  the  tropical  areas,  Brazil,  however, 
is  the  one  that  possesses  the  richest  and 
most  beautiful  flora. 

From  Latin  America  probably  more  eco- 
nomic plants  and  vegetable  substances  in 
general  have  been  derived  than  from  any 


RESOURCES  119 

other  quarter  of  the  globe.  Vast  quantities 
of  rubber  are  available  in  western  and 
northern  Brazil,  in  the  adjoining  areas  of 
the  Spanish-American  republics,  such  as 
Peru,  Colombia  and  Bolivia,  and  in  Mexico, 
where  numerous  substitutes  for  it,  like 
"guayule, "  have  also  been  discovered.  Trop- 
ical fruits  of  every  sort,  sugar-cane,  tobacco 
and  cotton  are  profuse  in  their  distribution, 
Cuba  alone  being  the  greatest  producer  of 
sugar-cane  in  the  world.  The  same  is  true 
of  several  of  the  "beverage  plants"  of  the 
commoner  sort,  like  the  coffee  of  Brazil, 
Guatemala,  Costa  Rica,  Colombia  and  Mex- 
ico; the  cacao  of  Brazil,  Ecuador,  the  Do- 
minican Republic,  Venezuela  and  Haiti; 
and  the  "yerba,"  or  Paraguay  tea,  of  that 
country  and  the  neighboring  districts  of 
the  Argentine  Republic  and  Brazil. 

Vegetable  silk  (Paraguay);  coca  (Bolivia 
and  Peru),  from  which  cocaine  is  made  and 
the  leaves  of  which  are  chewed  by  the 
natives  to  relieve  fatigue;  gums,  resins  and 
oleaginous  plants  in  general,  sarsaparilla, 
cinchona  bark,  which  is  the  source  of  quin- 
ine (Peru  and  Bolivia);  "Peruvian"  balsam 
(Salvador),  dye-woods,  ivory  nuts  (Ecuador 
and  Colombia),  from  which  buttons,  gaming- 
counters  and  the  like  are  manufactured; 
and  "chicle"  (Mexico)  which  is  the  chief  in- 
gredient in   chewing  gum,   are   among   the 


120  LATIN  AMERICA 

vegetable  substances  that  grow  in  great 
profusion.  To  them  may  be  added  "hene- 
quen"  and  "Lxtle"  (Mexico),  which  are 
fibrous  plants  useful  in  the  manufacture 
of  cordage;  the  vanilla  bean;  "maguey,"  a 
generic  name  for  some  thirty-three  species 
of  cacti  (Mexico),  which  provide  food,  drink, 
and  clothing  for  the  poorer  folk;  "toquilla" 
(Ecuador),  the  straw  from  which  Panama 
hats  are  made;  many  varieties  of  spices, 
breadfruit,  manioc,  yams,  Brazil  nuts,  essen- 
tial oils  for  the  manufacture  of  perfumery, 
and  the  wax-palm  (Brazil),  extraordinary  in 
the  number  of  its  uses. 

Cereals  of  every  description  flourish  in 
the  temperate  and  sub-tropical  areas  of  all 
the  Latin-American  republics,  and  cattle, 
sheep  and  horses  thrive  on  their  grassy 
savannas;  but  the  great  agricultural  and 
grazing  areas  lie  in  southern  South  America. 
Here  the  Argentine  Republic  is  easily 
foremost.  Out  in  the  "camp,"  as  the 
open  country  is  called,  lies  an  absolutely 
enormous  expanse  of  fertile  land  yielding 
alfalfa,  and  other  forage  grasses  in  practically 
unlimited  quantities,  a  region  in  which  the 
mild  climate  enables  cattle,  sheep  and  horses 
to  live  in  the  pastures  throughout  the  j^ear. 
Uruguay,  its  little  neighbor  to  the  eastward, 
is  also  famed  for  its  cattle,  though  agri- 
culture is  encroaching  on  the  grazing  grounds. 


SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS        121 

The  same  is  true  in  a  measure  of  south- 
western Brazil.  In  Chile  and  the  western 
part  of  the  Argentine  Republic  the  vine  is 
cultivated  with  great  success. 


CHAPTER  XI 

SOCIAL   CHARA.CTERISTICS 

In  Latin  America  the  larger  republics, 
and  a  few  of  the  smaller  ones,  are  more 
thinly  settled  for  their  areas  than  any  other 
part  of  the  world,  and  their  growth  of 
population  has  been  proportionately  less 
rapid.  Were  Brazil  as  densely  peopled  as 
Belgium,  it  would  contain  more  than  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  earth.  Salvador,  on  the 
other  hand,  though  the  tiniest  of  all  the 
states,  is  the  most  populous  for  its  size. 

In  most  of  the  countries  statistics  of  popu- 
lation, whenever  obtainable  at  all,  are  quite 
unreliable.  Outside  of  the  Argentine  Repub- 
lic, Chile  and  Uruguay,  where  the  figures 
are  fairly  accurate,  the  census  is  not  taken 
regularly,  or  with  the  same  degree  of  care, 
as  in  the  United  States  and  the  principal 
countries  of  Europe.  Expecially  is  this  true 
of  the  republics  in  which  the  Indian,  negro 
and  mixed  population  is  large,  and  in  which 
the  material  conditions  are  comparatively 
backward.    Here  many  of  the  people  of  that 


122  LATIN  AMERICA 

order  are  afraid  of  possible  taxation  and  mil- 
itary service;  accordingly  they  either  run 
away  from  the  census-taker,  or  else  refuse 
to  answer  his  questions. 

These  are  not  the  only  difficulties  in  the  way 
of  enumeration  and  classification.  On  ac- 
count of  the  practice  of  giving  census  re- 
turns for  townships  (comarcas),  which  often 
comprise  extensive  rural  districts,  it  is  not 
always  easy  to  ascertain  the  precise  popu- 
lation of  cities  and  towns  as  such.  Nor  is 
the  census-taker  usually  careful  to  distin- 
guish among  fine,  transitional  types  of  race. 
The  expression  "white,"  as  employed  in  the 
official  language  of  the  returns,  is  apt  to  have 
a  rather  elastic  interpretation;  so  that,  even  if 
the  white  strain  is  very  small,  the  individuals 
concerned  may  be  listed  as  "white." 

According  to  the  way  in  which  the  nations 
of  the  world  are  now  constituted,  a  fairly 
clear  indication  of  their  economic  circum- 
stances is  given  in  most  cases  from  the  pro- 
portion of  urban  to  rural  population.  Tak- 
ing the  Latin-American  states  as  a  whole, 
the  number  of  inhabitants  found  in  cities 
and  towns,  as  the  centers  of  trade  and 
industry,  is  small  in  comparison  with  the 
number  of  people  scattered  over  the  rural 
districts.  In  part  this  is  due  to  vastness  of 
territory  and  in  part  to  the  large  number  of 
Indians,   often   distributed   in   small   tribal 


SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS        123 

groups  over  the  rural  areas;  in  some  measure, 
also,  to  the  undeveloped  condition  of  manu- 
facturing interests,  and  the  consequent 
lack  of  a  numerous  working  class.  During 
recent  years,  however,  particularly  in  the 
Argentine  Republic,  the  shift  from  the  coun- 
try districts  to  the  towns  has  become  very 
marked.  Mexico  and  Brazil  are  the  two 
countries  that  contain  the  greatest  number 
of  large  cities  and  other  municipalities. 

All  of  the  republics  display  a  tendency  to 
concentrate  a  very  considerable  percentage 
of  their  population,  wealth  and  culture 
in  the  national  capitals.  Yet  the  countries 
where  this  threefold  concentration  is  most 
evident  are  among  the  ones  relatively  the 
most  advanced.  Buenos  Ayres,  for  example, 
contains  about  one  fifth  of  the  entire  popula- 
tion of  the  Argentine  Republic,  and  Santiago, 
approximately  one  eighth  of  that  of  Chile. 

Though  modified  in  some  measure  by  im- 
migration from  Europe,  and  to  a  much 
smaller  degree  from  the  United  States  and 
Asia,  an  essential  similarity,  of  course,  exists 
among  the  peoples  of  the  various  republics. 
Differences  there  are,  but  on  the  whole 
they  appear  to  be  of  less  import  than  those 
found  between  the  inhabitants  of  one  pro- 
vince and  another  in  some  of  the  European 
countries.  Properly  speaking,  there  is  no 
race   question   in   Latin   America,   because 


124  LATIN  AMERICA 

from  the  colonial  period  onward  the  eth- 
nical elements  have  tended  to  become 
merged  into  a  new  division  of  mankind. 

In  Spanish  America  at  large  the  three 
main  elements,  Indian,  European  and  negro, 
are  fused,  in  varying  proportions,  into 
dominant  nationalities  of  Spanish  speech 
and  culture,  with  the  white  factor  in  the 
ascendent.  Here  and  there,  as  for  example 
in  Peru  and  Bolivia,  the  amalgamation  is 
far  from  complete,  but  it  is  steadily  advanc- 
ing. Even  if  difficult  at  times  to  distinguish 
between  full-blood  and  half-caste  natives, 
it  is  fairly  safe  to  assume  that  the  whites 
are  holding  their  own,  that  the  half-castes 
are  increasing,  and  that  the  Indians  proper 
are  either  falling  off,  or  else  becoming  merged 
into  the  general  population. 

Negroes  and  mulattoes  constitute  prac- 
tically all  of  the  inhabitants  of  Haiti.  They 
form  a  great  majority  of  the  population, 
also,  in  the  Dominican  Republic  and  a 
very  appreciable  percentage  of  the  dwellers 
along  the  coasts  of  the  Central- American 
countries  and  the  southern  coast  of  the 
Caribbean  Sea. 

While  it  is  not  altogether  correct  to  say 
that  the  farther  south  one  goes  in  Latin 
America  the  whiter  the  population  becomes, 
the  generalization  is  true  so  far  as  southern 
South  America  is  concerned.    In  the  northern 


SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS        125 

group  of  republics,  Cuba,  and,  to  a  less  extent, 
Costa  Rica,  are  the  only  ones  in  which  the 
white  element  is  large,  though  the  former 
has  many  negroes  and  mulattoes  and  the 
latter  a  considerable  number  of  Indians  and 
"mestizos."  In  the  Argentine  Republic, 
Chile  and  Uruguay,  the  whites  constitute 
the  vast  majority  of  the  population.  What 
there  is  left  of  the  Indians  (possibly  130,000 
in  Chile  and  50,000  in  the  Argentine  Re- 
public) is  in  course  of  elimination;  but  here, 
as  also  in  Uruguay,  it  is  not  unusual  to  find 
men  of  Indian  features  employed  as  soldiers, 
policemen,  firemen  and  laborers. 

In  Brazil,  the  three  elements,  white, 
negro  and  Indian,  are  merged  into  a  Portu- 
guese-American nationality;  but  they  are 
confined  mainly  to  the  Atlantic  States, 
between  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon  and  the 
city  of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  From  the  southern 
area  of  the  country  the  negro  element  is 
largely  absent,  and  the  Indians  there,  also, 
are  tending  to  disappear  with  the  strength- 
ening of  the  whites  by  immigration  from 
Europe. 

As  the  Indian  and  negro  blood  in  this  part 
of  Brazil  lessens  before  the  tide  of  immigra- 
tion, a  new  ethnic  division  in  Latin  America 
may  arise.  Situated  in  a  fairly  temperate 
region,  one  fourth  the  size  of  Europe,  a 
South  European  stock,   capable  of  almost 


126  LATIN  AMERICA 

unlimited  expansion,  is  in  process  of  forma'* 
tion.  If  united  at  some  time  in  the  future 
with  the  European  population  of  like  char- 
acter found  in  the  three  Spanish-American 
republics  to  the  westward,  it  may  become 
to  constitute  a  power  of  the  first  importance. 

So  far  as  European  immigration  into  the 
various  republics  is  concerned,  though  still 
insufficient,  it  is  increasing  with  especial 
rapidity  in  the  southern  countries.  Among 
the  newcomers,  outside  of  those  from 
Spain  and  Portugal,  the  Italian  predominates. 
Then  come  in  order  the  German,  the  French, 
the  English  and  a  small  number  of  other 
nationalities.  Immigration  is  often  fos- 
tered directly  by  the  governments,  which 
are  disposed  to  grant  very  favorable  condi- 
tions of  transportation  and  maintenance,  in 
addition  to  supplying  lands,  livestock,  im- 
plements and  the  like. 

One  may  readily  understand  that  the  Ital- 
ian, the  Spaniard,  the  Portuguese  and  the 
French  would  blend  easily  with  peoples, 
like  themselves,  of  Latin  origin.  The  Italian 
and  the  German,  also,  are  to  be  encountered 
almost  anywhere  that  foreigners  are  apt  to 
go;  but  their  drift  is  toward  the  southern 
republics  of  the  temperate  zone.  The  Ital- 
ian forms  a  very  considerable  element  in  the 
population  of  the  State  of  Sao  Paulo,  Brazil, 
in  the  population  of  Uruguay,  and  especially 


SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS        127 

in  that  of  the  Argentine  Republic.  The  Ger- 
man is  found  chiejfly  in  the  far  southern  State 
of  Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  Brazil,  and  in  southern 
Chile. 

Of  the  several  European  colonies,  those 
of  Latin  stock  are  naturally  the  most 
popular  and  influential,  and  the  German  is 
not  far  behind  them.  The  Latin  immigrants, 
as  a  rule,  put  their  fortune  into  the  coun- 
try of  their  adoption,  identify  themselves 
with  it,  and  their  children  become  its  citizens. 
The  Italians  furnish  the  necessary  labor  in 
cultivating  the  ground  and  reaping  the 
harvest,  in  the  opening  of  highways,  the 
construction  of  railways,  the  building  of 
cities,  and  in  the  giving  of  material  form 
in  general  to  wealth  and  civilization.  So 
marked  has  been  their  influence  on  the  lan- 
guages of  the  countries  in  which  they  are 
most  numerous,  that  the  lower  classes  often 
speak  a  patois  of  Spanish  or  Portuguese  and 
Italian.  The  immigrants  from  Spain  and 
Portugal  commonly  become  small  shop- 
keepers. On  the  other  hand,  the  influence 
of  the  French  is  visible  in  connection  with 
thought,  art  and  fashion;  theirs  is  a  force 
to  embellish  life  on  its  social  side,  for  their 
number  is  too  small  to  affect  appreciably 
the  size  of  the  population. 

In  the  Argentine  Republic  the  inhabi- 
tants are  less  homogeneous  than  elsewhere 


128  LATIN  AMERICA 

in  Latin  America.  Being  peculiarly  a  "land 
of  promise"  for  the  European  immigrant, 
it  has  had  great  difficulty  in  merging  the 
newcomers  with  the  residents  of  Spanish 
origin  into  a  single  nationality.  In  many 
places  the  immigrants  are  massed  in  ethnic 
communities  where  they  speak  their  own  lan- 
guages, observe  their  own  religious  customs, 
maintain  their  own  usages  and  keep  socially 
aloof  from  the  Spanish-speaking  people. 

As  the  Germans  have  contributed  comfort, 
sobriety,  solidity  and  methodical  habits 
in  business,  so  the  English  and  the  Ameri- 
cans, though  few  in  number,  as  compared 
with  some  of  the  other  classes  of  immigrants, 
have  aided  the  development  of  national 
wealth  by  their  capital,  aroused  a  liking  for 
sports  and  imparted  a  tendency  to  cherish 
the  practical  side  of  life.  Unlike  most  of  the 
other  immigrants,  or  temporary  residents, 
they  do  not  readily  assimilate  with  the 
native  population.  Americans,  of  course, 
are  found  particularly  in  Mexico,  the  Central- 
American  states  and  Cuba.  The  English 
go  preferably  to  the  southern  republics  in 
South  America,  but  they  are  apt  to  be  almost, 
if  not  quite,  as  ubiquitous  as  the  Germans. 
British  and  German  names  are  very  pre- 
valent among  those  of  the  leading  families 
in  Chile. 

The  use  of  the  English  language,  also,  is 


SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS         129 

making  rapid  headway  everywhere  in  Latin 
America,  and  the  growth  of  English  influence 
is  more  or  less  commensurate  with  it.  The 
"word  of  an  Englishman"  (palabra  de  ingl6s) 
is  proverbial;  bonds  and  other  financial  se- 
curities are  jocularly  referred  to  as  "ingleses'* 
(i.  e.,  Englishmen),  and  ail  the  native  of 
Albion  needs,  in  order  to  be  identified,  is 
to  "  wear  a  sandy  mustache  and  have  a  W  in 
his  name."  In  these  distinctions,  also,  the 
American  is  coming  to  have  a  share. 

Several  of  the  republics,  and  in  particular 
Brazil,  encourage  innnigration  from  Japan. 
Along  the  northwest  coast  of  South  America, 
and  at  various  points  in  Mexico  and  in  the 
countries  of  Central  America,  Chinese,  as 
well  as  Japanese,  have  established  themselves. 
In  many  cases  the  Chinese  were  originally 
coolies  imported  to  work  on  the  plantations; 
but  not  a  few  of  them  have  since  become 
shop-keepers  and  herb-doctors  (herbolarios) . 
So  far  as  Brazil  is  concerned,  the  Japanese 
have  been  imported  under  government  con- 
tract to  labor  on  the  coffee  plantations  and  to 
devote  themselves  to  rice  culture. 

Much  of  what  has  been  stated  as  to  the 
condition  of  the  Indians  in  colonial  times 
applies  to  their  present  situation.  In  all 
of  the  continental  republics,  except  some  of 
those  in  southern  South  America,  they  may 
be  divided  roughly  into  the  wild  (bravos), 


130  LATIN  AMERICA 

who  live  as  more  or  less  independent  tribes, 
and  the  relatively  civilized  (mansos),  who 
dwell  in  fixed  settlements,  profess  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion  and  speak  the  European 
language  of  the  country,  as  well  as  their  own 
native  tongue.  Though  head-hunting  still 
survives  in  a  few  places,  the  existence  of 
cannibalism,  so  frequently  asserted,  is  very 
dubious.  The  story  of  the  answer  given  by 
an  alleged  South  American  cannibal,  in  reply 
to  a  query  as  to  why  he  ate  his  dead  relatives, 
that  he  thought  it  was  better  for  them  to  be 
inside  of  a  warm  friend  than  to  be  buried  in 
the  cold  earth,  savors  strongly  of  a  traveler's 
yarn. 

Though  it  is  popular  in  many  parts  of 
Latin  America  to  ascribe  numerous  special 
virtues  to  Indian  ancestors,  the  whites  are 
not  always  so  sentimental  in  their  attitude 
toward  the  Indians  personally.  In  the  case 
of  the  more  educated  and  distinctly  ruling 
class,  the  feeling  of  social  repulsion  toward 
them  is  about  as  marked  as  it  was  in  co- 
lonial times,  even  if  much  is  being  done  for 
their  education  and  general  welfare.  Hardly 
regarded  as  a  member  of  the  body  politic, 
except  in  the  language  of  the  constitution, 
which  recognizes  his  freedom  of  status  as  a 
citizen,  and  except  that,  when  able  to  read 
and  write,  he  is  apt  to  receive  greater  consid- 
eration, the  Indian  exercises  little  influence. 


SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS         131 

as  a  rule,  on  the  government  and  destiny 
of  the  nation  of  which  he  forms  part. 

Among  the  picturesque  social  types  of  a 
somewhat  higher  order  are  the  cowboys,  of 
white  and  Indian  blood,  known  in  the  Argen- 
tine Republic  as  "gauchos,"  in  Venezuela  as 
"llaneros"  and  elsewhere  commonly  as 
"vaqueros."  Avoiding  the  cosmopolitan 
life  in  the  towns,  their  habitat  is  the  plains. 
Fearless  riders,  dexterous  in  the  use  of  the 
lasso  and  knife,  they  have  given  a  noy^l- 
esque  character  to  the  songs  and  stories  of  ad- 
venture. Half  savage,  ruthless,  melancholy 
and  taciturn,  fond  of  personal  adornment 
in  the  shape  of  coin-studded  belts  and  silver 
spurs,  they  have  shed  a  glamour  of  romance 
around  their  lives.  With  the  advance  of 
immigration,  however,  with  the  spread  of 
agriculture  and,  incidentally,  with  the  use 
of  barbed-wire  fences  on  the  cattle-ranches, 
they  will  soon  become  a  figure  of  the  past  in 
many  a  section  of  country  where  they  were 
once  so  numerous. 

Except  possibly  in  Salvador,  social  and 
political  power  in  the  Latin-American  re- 
publics is  seldom  in  the  hands  of  what  in 
other  lands  would  be  called  the  ''middle 
class";  although  in  states  like  the  Argentine 
Republic,  Chile,  Uruguay,  Cuba  and  Costa 
Rica,  a  tendency  in  that  direction  is  growing 
constantly   stronger.      At   the   top    of   the 


1S2  LATIN  AMERICA 

social  scale  stand  the  great  landed  pro- 
prietors, the  " hacendados, "  "fazendeiros" 
and  "  estancieros, "  the  owners  of  plantations 
and  cattle-ranches.  Constituting  a  sort  of 
aristocracy,  and  perpetuating  in  a  measure 
the  colonial  tradition,  the  members  of  this 
class  often  exercise  a  more  or  less  feudal 
authority  over  the  dwellers  on  their  huge  es- 
tates, and  are  disposed  to  look  upon  France, 
and,  in  a  much  less  degree,  Spain  or  Portu- 
gal, as  their  real  home,  the  center  of  pleasure, 
fashion  and  ideas.  Then  come  the  lawyers, 
engineers,  physicians,  journalists  and  other 
professional  men,  whose  tastes  and  interests 
are  far  more  closely  allied  with  the  order  just 
named  than  with  the  views  and  practices 
of  the  great  mass  of  the  people  below  them. 
These  are  the  men  who  more  commonly  have 
the  actual  control  of  affairs.  Foreigners,  as 
such,  seldom  exercise  any  political  influence. 
In  many  cases  these  great  landed  estates 
are  a  peril  to  liberty  and  an  obstacle  to  pro- 
gress. They  arose  out  of  colonial  grants  and 
of  liberal  donations  made  on  various  oc- 
casions in  the  period  following  independence. 
Often  practically  free  of  taxation,  they  are 
held  by  rich  families  who  will  not  subdivide 
them,  and  are  even  directed  at  times  by 
overseers  acting  as  the  representatives  of 
the  absentee  owners.  Some  of  these  estates 
are   as   large   as   European   countries.     On 


SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS        133 

them  fabulous  numbers  of  cattle  are  raised, 
and  incredible  amounts  of  agricultural  pro- 
duce brought  forth,  the  whole  being  cared 
for  by  a  veritable  army  of  laborers.  Though 
exemplified  notably  in  Mexico,  illustrations 
of  such  concentration  of  property  are  found 
elsewhere  also. 

Since  poor  men  cannot  acquire  farms,  they 
are  forced  to  work  on  these  estates.  In 
the  republics  where  the  Indians  are  numerous 
the  wages  of  the  "peones, "  or  common  labo- 
rers, are  often  ridiculously  small,  and  may 
consist  in  scarcely  more  than  food  and  drink. 
Living  in  hovels,  and  perhaps  allowed  to 
cultivate  little  clearings  of  superfluous  rocky 
ground,  the  "peones"  cannot  be  sure  of  even 
these  holdings,  and  have  suffered  eviction 
when  their  little  property  has  been  sold 
against  their  will. 

Because  the  "peones"  are  apt  to  be  im- 
provident, they  easily  fall  into  debt.  When 
they  are  unable  to  meet  it,  the  indebtedness 
is  made  a  charge  upon  the  members  of  their 
families,  the  children  being  forced  to  inherit 
it.  In  areas,  also,  where  revolutionary  out- 
breaks are  more  or  less  frequent,  unscrupu- 
lous leaders  persuade  the  "peones"  to  desert 
their  work  altogether,  by  promising  to  pay 
off  their  debts,  if  they  agree  to  join  the  in- 
surgent bands.  Nor  is  it  uncommon  in  these, 
and  other  backward  sections,   for  a  local 


134  LATIN  AMERICA 

governor  (jefe  politico)  to  have  the  laboring 
force  of  the  district  quite  completely  at  his 
disposal.  Accordingly,  if  a  planter  wants 
field-hands  to  help  gather  in  his  harvest, 
he  mustfirst  crossthe  palm  of  that  individual, 
otherwise  he  will  get  none,  and  may  even  lose 
those  he  already  has. 

Unless  something  is  done  to  break  up  the 
landed  estates  of  the  sort  described,  to  abol- 
ish the  evils  of  peonage  and  to  create  small 
peasant  proprietorships,  the  danger  of  serious 
conflict  is  very  real  and  pressing.  Only  by 
securing  a  permanent  foothold  on  the  soil 
can  the  Indians  be  brought  to  a  knowledge 
of  responsible  citizenship,  and  only  by  this 
means  can  the  greed  for  cheap  labor  be 
checked.  Some  of  the  countries,  where  the 
abuses  of  peonage  are  rampant,  have  made 
an  effort  to  stamp  them  out,  by  government 
regulation  of  contracts  and  other  processes. 

Even  in  the  advanced  states,  the  relation- 
ship existing  between  an  agricultural  pro- 
prietor and  the  native  tenants  on  his  estate 
is  reminiscent  at  times  of  colonial  usages. 
On  the  Chilean  "haciendas,"  or  large  farms, 
for  example,  the  laborer-tenants  (inquilinos) 
work  a  certain  number  of  days  a  week  for 
the  owner  in  exchange  for  the  use  of  a  cabin 
and  piece  of  ground,  and  the  loan  of  domestic 
animals.  Their  surplus  produce,  also,  they 
must  sell  to  the  owner,  and  as  long  as  the 


SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS        135 

agreement  with  him  is  in  force  they  are  not 
allowed  to  leave  the  estate  without  permis- 
sion. In  addition  to  these  terras,  tlie  "vaqu- 
eros,"  or  cowboys,  receive  a  small  wage. 

The  Italian  and  other  European  laborers 
located  in  the  sparsely  settled  districts  of 
almost  any  of  the  republics  are  apt  to  find 
that  the  conditions  of  life  are  decidedly 
more  primitive  than  what  they  had  expected. 
Many  of  the  workers,  in  fact,  are  of  a  roving 
character,  coming  from  their  native  lands 
only  for  the  harvest  season.  Because  of 
the  frequent  lack  of  housing  and  school  fa- 
cilities, and  of  the  difficulty  of  acquiring  free- 
hold land  in  small  quantities,  they  have  no 
special  inducements  to  stay  in  the  country. 
The  condition  of  the  laboring  class  in  the 
cities  and  towns,  of  course,  is  much  better, 
and  in  the  larger  centers  of  trade  and  indus- 
try the  workmen  are  paid  relatively  high 
wages. 

Regardless  of  the  particular  country  to 
which  they  may  belong,  the  members  of  the 
dominant  classes  among  the  Latin  Americans 
have  the  common  characteristics  of  their 
European  ancestors.  Affable,  kindly  and 
courteous,  they  are  alike  hospitable,  gen- 
erous and  forbearing,  warm  in  their  friend- 
ships and  no  less  bitter  in  their  enmities. 
High-spirited,  quick-minded  and  sensitive 
to  a  degree,  they  expect  that  the  qualities 


1S6  LATIN  AMERICA 

they  themselves  display  will  be  reflected 
by  the  people  with  whom  they  are  brought 
into  contact.  Brave  and  courageous,  also, 
they  are  patriotic  to  the  heart's  core. 

Though  keenly  appreciative  of  humor, 
they  rarely  use  it  on  public  occasions.  Won- 
derfully fluent  in  speech,  they  choose  elo- 
quence as  the  mode  of  conveying  their 
ideas  and  sentiments,  rather  than  resort  to 
witticism.  Irony  they  scarcely  understand 
as  a  weapon  of  bloodless  offense.  Quick  to 
resent  an  injury,  and  sharply  jealous  of  their 
personal  honor,  they  still  make  use  of  dueling 
to  settle  disputes;  but  the  practice  is  dying 
out.  Vivacious  in  temperament,  they  find 
gesticulation  a  helpful  means  of  facilitat- 
ing expression,  even  when  using  the  tele- 
phone. They  love  diversion,  are  willing  to 
make  incredible  sacrifices  for  some  splendid 
display  that  will  be  remembered  with  a  thrill 
of  pride,  and  attach  great  importance  to 
the  formalities  and  ceremonies  of  social  in- 
tercourse. 

Yet  in  strict  justice  to  the  Latin  Ameri- 
cans, it  must  be  admitted  that  they  have 
their  faults  as  well  as  their  virtues,  the 
fact  being  quite  as  apparent  to  men  of  their 
own  stock  as  it  is  to  the  foreigner.  Rarely 
prone  to  hurry,  and  not  gifted  with  the 
practical  sense,  as  that  term  is  usually 
understood  in  the  processes  of  modem  in- 


SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS        137 

dustry,  they  are  inclined  at  times  to  put  off 
until  to-morrow  what  could  be  done  to-day. 
To  paraphrase  the  opinion  of  one  of  their 
recent  writers:  The  Latin  American,  a  crea- 
ture of  dreams  and  a  victim  of  neglect, 
brings  together  all  the  conditions  essential 
to  a  writer  or  a  musician,  and  he  lacks  initi- 
ative. If  the  American  seeks  the  shortest 
road  to  a  given  end,  the  Latin  American 
looks  for  the  prettiest.  Somewhat  of  a 
dilettante,  he  is  not  well  adapted  to  the  period 
into  which  he  is  born. 

The  Latin  American,  says  this  writer, 
furthermore,  has  but  a  vague  notion  of  the 
type  of  civilization  to  which  he  belongs. 
In  general  his  concept  of  life  has  to  do  with 
his  town,  his  district,  his  street  and  his  house, 
or,  at  the  utmost,  with  his  particular  state. 
The  Latin  Americans,  then,  in  his  opinion, 
are  not  peoples  who  have  become  productive 
as  yet  of  an  active,  vivid,  pulsating  life  that 
would  create,  amplify  and  progress;  and  he 
thinks  that  the  remedy  for  this  state  of 
affairs  does  not  consist  in  imitating  from 
Europe  or  elsewhere  that  which  ought  to  rise 
spontaneously.  While  these  shortcomings, 
to  the  extent  that  they  may  actually  exist, 
are  stated  in  a  somewhat  exaggerated  fashion 
by  the  writer  in  question,  their  manifestation 
denends  largely,  of  course,  on  the  relative 
stage  of  advancement  in  each  country. 


138  LATIN  AMERICA 

The  Latin-American  woman  is  alike  charm- 
ing and  gracious,  and  devoted  to  her  home 
and  family.  If  the  head  of  the  family  rules 
it  with  patriarchal  simplicity,  the  relations 
of  the  various  members  of  it,  none  the  less, 
are  regulated  by  constant  courtesy  and  kind- 
liness. Reverence  for  parents  is  a  strong 
characteristic  of  family  life.  In  many  cases, 
however,  the  old  spirit  of  seclusion,  inherited 
from  Spanish  and  Portuguese  prejudices, 
still  survives.  While  the  women  move  about 
in  the  world,  they  rarely  take  any  important 
part  in  the  larger  phases  of  public  life.  Out- 
side of  the  home,  they  find  their  chief  interest 
in  religion  and  in  works  of  charity. 

Families,  as  a  rule,  are  numerous,  and  those 
belonging  to  the  wealthier  class  are  so  closely 
allied  by  marriage  that  social  functions  are 
often  little  more  than  family  activities  on  a 
wider  scale.  Certain  days  of  the  week  or 
month  are  commonly  set  aside  as  "dias  de 
moda"  (fashionable  or  smart  days),  on  which 
the  per>T)le,  who  move  in  the  best  society,  go 
to  the  theater  or  opera,  or  to  watering-places. 
Paris  is  the  model  for  feminine  fashions. 

Young  girls  are  kept  under  strict  surveil- 
lance. Marriages  are  generally  arranged  by 
the  parents.  Young  men  and  young  women 
are  not  permitted  to  go  out  together  unchap- 
eroned.  Among  the  members  of  the  younger 
generation,   however,   there   is   a   tendency 


SOCIAL  CHARACTERISTICS        139 

to  set  some  of  these  traditional  restrictions 
aside.  Breach  of  promise  cases  are  practically 
unknown.  In  most  of  the  republics  civil 
marriage  is  the  rule.  Divorce  is  exceedingly- 
rare,  Uruguay  being  the  only  country  that 
has  established  it  under  broad  conditions. 

Roman  Catholicism  is  the  prevailing  re- 
ligion in  all  of  the  republics,  but  freedom  of 
worship  is  commonly  permitted.  The  power 
of  the  Roman  Church  is  probably  stronger  in 
Ecuador  and  Colombia  than  it  is  in  the  other 
countries.  If  not  always  inclined  to  more 
than  formal  observance  of  religious  duties, 
and  if  many  of  the  intellectual  leaders  profess 
no  religion  at  all,  the  Latin  Americans  are  at 
least  respectful  in  their  attitude  toward  it. 

In  some  of  the  countries  like  Brazil,  Mexico, 
Guatemala,  Honduras  and  Panama,  church 
and  state  are  absolutely  separate.  Mexico 
also  prohibits  the  existence  of  monastic 
orders  and  the  acquisition  of  landed  property, 
except  necessary  buildings,  for  ecclesiastical 
purposes.  Several  countries  forbid  religious 
processions  to  be  held  in  public.  Attendance 
at  church  service  is  confined  largely  to  women. 
Depending  upon  their  respective  degrees  of 
material  advancement,  holidays,  ecclesias- 
tical and  otherwise,  are  quite  numerous  in  the 
various  republics. 

So  far  as  social  institutions  and  amuse- 
ments are  concerned,  it  may  be  said  that  sev- 


140  LATIN  AMERICA 

eral  of  the  Latin-American  states  can  boast 
of  superb  clubhouses,  the  most  costly  and  lux- 
urious of  which  is  probably  that  of  the  Jockey 
Club  at  Buenos  Ayres.  Horse-racing  is  one 
of  the  chief  diversions,  the  hippodrome  in 
Buenos  Ayres  being  in  some  respects  the 
finest  race-course  in  the  world.  "Pelota,"  a 
species  of  handball,  is  another  favorite  sport 
and  is  played  usually  by  professionals.  Bull- 
fights are  held  in  a  few  of  the  countries,  like 
Mexico,  Guatemala  and  Peru.  Cock-fighting 
isanamusementpeculiarlyof  the  lower  classes. 
Riding,  shooting,  fencing,  yachting,  football, 
baseball,  polo,  golf  and  tennis,  all  have  their 
advocates.  Women  rarely  participate  in  any 
of  them,  except  tennis.  Gambling,  especially 
in  connection  with  horse-racing,  is  prevalent, 
and  playing  the  lottery  practically  universal. 
The  contrast  between  the  capital  cities  of 
the  larger  and  more  important  republics  and 
the  country  towns  is  often  very  remarkable. 
While  the  former  are  European  in  aspect,  the 
latter  commonly  retain  much  that  recalls 
colonial  days.  Such  cities  as  Buenos  Ayres, 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Santiago,  Montevideo,  Mex- 
ico and  Havana  are  of  a  fine  modern  type, 
provided  with  an  excellent  water  supply,  with 
sanitary  sewerage,  a  paving  system  of  high 
grade,  and  equipped  with  traction  and  light- 
ing systems  of  the  first  order.  Buenos  Ayres, 
the  metropolis  of  Latin  America,  with  its 


POLITICAL  SITUATION  141 

population  of  about  a  million  and  a  half,  is 
the  largest  Spanish-speaking  city,  and  the 
second  largest  Latin  city  in  the  world,  com- 
ing immediately  after  Paris,  on  which  in 
many  respects  it  is  modeled.  Here,  and  in  the 
other  large  cities,  many  of  the  private  resi- 
dences are  superb  in  their  architecture  and 
decoration.  The  hotel  accommodations,  also, 
approximate  those  of  the  better  sort  in 
Europe. 

CHAPTER  XII 

POLITICAL  AND   FINANCIAL   SITUATION 

Latin-American  constitutions  are  far 
more  extensive  in  scope  and  provision  than 
the  Federal  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 
In  fifteen  of  the  republics  the  form  of  govern- 
ment outlined  by  them  is  unitary,  in  four 
federal,  and  in  one  unitary-federal.  That 
so  many  of  the  states  should  have  adopted 
the  unitary  system  is  a  clear  evidence  of  the 
influence  of  France  on  their  political  devel- 
opment. Mexico,  Venezuela,  Brazil  and  the 
Argentine  Republic  are  the  four  countries 
that  have  established  the  federal  arrange- 
ment, and  Cuba  the  one  that  has  blended 
the  unitary  with  the  federal. 

In  practice  the  tendency  in  all  of  the  fed- 
eral republics,  except  Brazil,  is  to  strengthen 
the  unitary  element,  or,  in  other  words,  to 


142  LATIN  AMERICA 

increase  the  power  of  the  national  govern- 
ment. While  the  various  political  divisions 
in  theory  enjoy  full  rights  of  local  legislation, 
they  are  commonly  disposed  to  copy,  with 
suitable  modifications,  the  legislative  enact- 
ments of  the  central  government  itself. 
Hence,  instead  of  the  conflicts  of  legal  au- 
thority found  in  other  countries  where  the 
federal  arrangement  exists,  in  the  Latin- 
American  republics  of  this  kind  there  is  a 
more  or  less  uniform  system  of  laws  enacted 
under  national  direction.  ,^j 

While  the  government  in  all  of  the  states 
is  republican  in  form,  it  is  not  always  demo- 
cratic in  practice,  to  the  extent  of  being 
immediately  representative  of  the  entire 
people.  Public  opinion  as  a  controlling 
force,  in  the  sense  in  which  the  expression 
is  understood  in  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  is  virtually  nonexistent.  "  News- 
papers, to  be  sure,  exercise  some  influence. 
Mass-meetings  of  protest  or  recommendation, 
also,  are  occasionally  held ;  but  the  tendency 
is  to  regard  such  manifestations  of  public 
sentiment  as  seditious,  or,  at  all  events,  not  in 
accordance  with  established  usage. 

However  generous  any  particular  consti- 
tution may  be  in  allowing  for  the  participa- 
tion of  the  people  at  large  in  government, 
the  fact  remains  that,  to  all  intents  and  pur- 
poses,   the    Latin- American    countries    are 


POLITICAL  SITUATION  143 

ruled  either  by  a  virtual  autocrat  whose 
effective  support  comes  from  certain  classes 
and  not  from  the  great  body  of  the  people 
themselves,  or  else  by  a  relatively  small  num- 
ber of  persons  identified  with  the  interests 
of  the  wealthy  and  the  well  educated. 
Professional  men,  rather  than  those  con- 
cerned primarily  in  industrial  pursuits,  are 
apt  to  be  the  dominant  factor  in  politics. 

Possibly  the  two  kinds  of  actual  govern- 
ment in  question  are  the  only  ones  that  are 
feasible  under  present  conditions.  To  es- 
tablish a  more  liberal  system,  so  long  as  the 
masses  remain  uneducated,  might  be  unwise. 
The  Latin-American  governments,  at  all 
events,  do  not  appear  to  rest  on  the  people, 
broadly  speaking,  but  only  on  the  "political" 
people,  on  that  portion  of  the  population 
which  is  believed  to  possess  the  knowledge 
and  intelligence  needful  to  enable  its  members 
to  assume  an  active  share  in  public  life. 

Either  by  the  terms  of  the  constitution, 
or  in  actual  practice,  then,  illiterates  are  ex- 
cluded from  the  suffrage.  Since  a  large, 
though  varying,  percentage  of  the  population 
in  all  of  the  republics  cannot  read  or  write, 
it  follows  that  a  very  considerable  number  of 
the  inhabitants  of  voting  age  are  not  allowed 
to  participate  in  the  elections.  They  belong 
almost  entirely,  of  course,  to  the  colored 
races.    In  the  larger  cities,  where  education 


144  LATIN  AMERICA 

is  well  advanced,  the  voting  privilege  is  quite 
widely  diffused;  but  so  much  cannot  be  said 
of  the  country  districts.  Here  it  is  necessary 
at  times  for  honest  and  pubHc-spirited  men 
to  bring  much  pressure  to  bear  upon  local 
parties  and  administrators,  to  insure  that 
the  dependent  classes  shall  acquire  political 
experience,  without  permitting  the  poli- 
ticians to  use  their  fighting  instinct  alone  for 
personal    ends. 

In  many  of  the  republics  foreigners  are 
given  the  right  to  vote  at  municipal 
elections  without  having  been  previously 
naturalized,  although  this  privilege  is  sub- 
ject to  the  condition  that  they  possess  prop- 
erty, or  practice  one  of  the  liberal  profes- 
sions. A  fixed  date  for  elections  is  unusual. 
They  commonly  take  place  on  Sunday,  the 
polls  being  located  on  the  porches  of  churches, 
in  school-houses,  or  even  in  the  open  squares. 
Ecclesiastics,  as  a  rule,  are  excluded  from 
public  ojBfice  of  any  kind. 

Political  parties  in  Latin  America  display 
a  tendency  to  divide  up  into  numerous 
groups  of  a  more  or  less  organized  character. 
In  a  general  sense  theymaybe  called  the*'lib- 
eral"  and  the  "conservative."  These  ex- 
pressions, however,  are  subject  to  a  diverse 
classification,  and  include  many  phases  of 
political  thought  and  personal  affiliation, 
varying  from  country  to  country,  and  hence 


POLITICAL  SITUATION  145 

impossible  to  define  broadly  with  any  degree 
of  precision. 

The  liberals  and  their  various  subdi- 
visions are  supposed  to  represent  the  modern 
ideas  about  democracy  and  individual  lib- 
erty. The  conservatives,  similarly,  are  pre- 
sumed either  to  oppose  such  ideas  altogether, 
or  else  to  favor  their  restriction,  if  put  into 
practice.  More  concretely,  the  issues  in  poli- 
tics relate  to  the  determination  of  the  ex- 
tent of  state  or  church  control  over  public 
education,  or  to  the  views  of  particular 
leaders.  The  questions  of  parceling  up 
large  estates,  of  curbing  the  power  of  admin- 
istrative officials,  of  bettering  the  condition 
of  the  currency,  are  all  brought  up  for  dis- 
cussion in  one  country  or  another.  Consid- 
erable difference  of  opinion,  also,  prevails 
in  regard  to  the  methods  of  regulating  the 
activities  of  foreign  corporations. 

In  the  Latin-American  republics,  politics 
is  an  art  that  is  assiduously  cultivated,  and 
those  who  practice  it  know  how  "to  play  the 
game."  Even  political  history,  for  purposes 
of  discussion,  is  regarded  usually  as  present, 
and  hence  controversial,  politics.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  true  that  whole  parties,  no 
less  than  individuals,  abstain  from  voting, 
either  because  of  lack  of  interest,  or  because 
of  a  belief  that  the  elections  cannot  be  carried 
to  suit  them.     In  municipal,  and  sometimes 


146  LATIN  AMERICA 

in  national,  elections  the  number  of  those  cast- 
ing a  ballot  is  extremely  small.  Secret  voting 
is  the  exception,  and  not  the  rule. 

A  few  of  the  republics  have  undertaken 
to  remedy  these  defects.  The  Argentine 
Republic,  for  example,  has  prescribed  an 
absolutely  secret  ballot,  compulsory  voting 
for  all  persons  entitled  to  the  suffrage,  and  a 
system  of  minority  representation  as  well. 
Such  reforms,  when  put  into  operation, 
have  lessened  venality  and  have  induced 
parties  or  factions,  hitherto  abstaining,  to 
take  part  in  the  elections.  They  have  over- 
come, also,  the  disposition  of  many  of  the 
individual  voters  to  neglect  the  performance 
of  their  political  duties. 

The  term  of  office  fixed  by  the  constitu- 
tions of  the  Latin-American  states  for  the 
president  varies  from  four  years  to  seven, 
the  period  first  named  being  by  far  the  com- 
monest. It  is  frequently  provided  that  the 
president  shall  not  be  elected  to  succeed 
himself;  and  in  some  cases  no  near  relative 
of  a  retiring  president  may  be  chosen  to 
succeed  him.  Occasionally  a  restriction  is 
found,  forbidding  an  army  officer  in  active  ser- 
vice to  be  elected  president  or  even  a  mem- 
ber of  congress.  As  a  rule  the  president  is 
chosen  by  some  sort  of  an  electoral  college  or 
by  the  congress,  and  not  by  the  people  at 
large.     With  him  a  vice-president,  and  some- 


POLITICAL  SITUATION  147 

times  two  vice-presidents,  are  associated. 
The  vice-president  replaces  the  president 
in  case  of  absence  or  disability,  and 
ordinarily  presides  over  the  upper  house 
of  the  congress.  Where  there  are  two  vice- 
presidents,  one  is  kept  in  reserve,  as  it  were, 
to  provide  for  emergencies. 

The  president  is  usually  a  civilian;  but  in 
countries  where  political  education  has  not 
advanced  very  far,  it  is  often  deemed  wiser 
to  intrust  the  executive  authority  to  a  sol- 
dier. Throughout  Latin  America  his  power 
and  prestige  are  apt  to  be  rather  greater 
than  that  of  the  president  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  treatment  accorded  him  is 
more    ceremonious. 

In  the  performance  of  his  duties  the  presi- 
dent is  assisted  by  a  cabinet  of  ministers,  who 
are  placed  in  charge  of  the  several  branches 
of  administration,  and  in  some  cases  are  per- 
mitted to  have  seats  in  congress,  but  usually 
without  vote.  Several  of  the  republics  pro- 
vide, in  addition,  a  council  of  government 
or  state  to  cooperate  with  the  president, 
give  him  the  benefit  of  its  advice,  and  other- 
wise to  share  in  the  administration.  As  in 
France  and  other  European  countries,  the 
cabinets  in  the  Latin-American  republics 
are  apt  to  be  unstable,  but  the  fact  does  not 
appear  to  interfere  seriously  with  the  pro- 
cesses of  government. 


148  LATIN  AMERICA 

Except  a  few  of  the  smaller  ones,  all  of 
the  republics  have  a  national  congress  com- 
posed of  two  houses,  called  usually  the  Sen- 
ate and  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  The 
smaller  states  in  question  content  themselves 
with  one  house.  In  the  few  countries 
where  the  federal  system  prevails,  the  sena- 
tors are  chosen  by  the  state  or  provincial 
legislatures,  and  the  composition  of  the  Sen- 
ate is  renewed  periodically.  In  the  much 
larger  number,  where  the  unitary  form  is  in 
existence,  they  are  chosen  by  electoral  col- 
leges, or  by  the  people  of  the  provinces  or 
departments,  or  are  even  appointed  by  the 
president.  The  members  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  however,  are  elected  immediately 
by  the  voters  of  the  various  political  divi- 
sions and,  in  rare  instances,  their  member- 
ship is  renewed  in  the  same  fashion  as  that 
of  the  Senate.  In  some  republics  substitute 
members  of  Congress  are  elected  at  the  same 
time  as  the  regular  ones,  to  take  the  places  of 
the  latter  in  case  of  absence  or  disability. 

Property  qualifications,  or  the  exercise  of 
some  liberal  profession,  are  usually  de- 
manded of  candidates  for  the  presidency  and 
for  membership  in  congress.  As  a  rule  the 
representation  in  the  legislative  body  is  of 
a  general  rather  than  of  a  local  character, 
the  idea  being  that,  in  order  to  represent 
the  people,  it  is  not  necessary  for  a  congress- 


POLITICAL  SITUATION  149 

man  to  reside  in  the  district  from  which  he 
is  chosen.  Persons  actually  living  in  the 
capital  city  are  frequently  elected  to  repre- 
sent even  distant  provinces.  The  laws  of 
the  various  countries  are  regularly  pub- 
lished in  official  gazettes. 

So  far  as  the  federal  republics  are  con- 
cerned, substantially  the  same  distinctions 
exist  between  the  federal  courts  and  the 
state  courts  as  those  found  in  the  United 
States;  elsewhere  the  judicial  system  is 
national  in  character,  and  all  courts  are  under 
the  control  of  the  general  government.  In 
no  republic,  however,  do  the  federal  or  na- 
tional courts  possess  either  the  degree  of 
independence  or  the  right  to  interpret  and 
apply  the  constitution  to  the  extent 
enjoyed  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States.  The  judicial  power  in  Latin 
America,  accordingly,  is  more  or  less  subor- 
dinate to  the  executive  and  legislative  au- 
thority. Under  the  unitary  system  the 
judges  are  appointed  by  the  president, 
or  elected  by  congress.  The  same  is 
true,  also,  of  the  countries  that  have  the 
federal  form  of  government,  except  that  the 
state  or  provincial  judges  are  named  by 
the  local  authorities. 

The  system  of  jurisprudence  in  the  Latin- 
American  republics  is  based  on  the  Roman 
law,  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  codes  and 


150  LATIN  AMERICA 

the  Code  Napoleon,  as  revised  to  meet  the 
requirements  in  each  case.    Most  of  the  legal ' 
enactments  are  in  codified  form,  and  relate' 
to  civil  procedure,  penal  offenses,  commer- ' 
cial  usages  and  mining  privileges.     Trial  by 
jury  is  rarely,  if  ever,  used  in  civil  cases, 
and   is   far   from   being   universal   even   in 
those  relating  to  crime. 

In  most  of  the  republics  military  service 
is  obligatory,  but  the  privilege  of  purchas- 
ing exemption  is  also  common.     Several  of 
the  South  American  states,  such  as  Chile, 
the  Argentine  Republic,  Brazil  and  Bolivia, 
have  adopted  the  German  system,  and  Ger-^ 
man  oflBcers  train  their  respective  armies. 
Outside  of  the  first  three  of  the  republics 
named,  none  of  the  countries  of  Latin  Amer- 
ica possesses  a  navy  of  any  consequence.  , 
In  those  republics  the  naval   service  is  or-  i 
ganized  largely  on  the  English  model,  and  • 
of  late  they  have  been  considerably  increas- 
ing their  armaments. 

Nearly  all  of  the  countries  struggle  under 
a  heavy  burden  of  debt,  and  not  a  few  of 
them  find  great  difficulty  in  meeting  their 
financial  obligations.  By  far  the  greater 
part  of  the  debt  has  been  contracted  in ! 
Europe  for  the  purpose  of  developing  natural  | 
resources,  and  often  to  an  extent  for  which 
the  nations  concerned  were  ill-prepared.  In 
many  cases,  also,  the  burden  has  been  in- 


FINANCIAL  SITUATION  151 

creased  by  the  unfortunate  point  of  view  of 
the  representatives  of  one  government  or 
another,  that  it  was  humiliating  for  a  coun- 
try to  offer  sufficient  security,  preferring  to 
pay  high  rates  of  interest  rather  than  to 
offer  to  the  foreign  capitaHst  any  direct  con- 
trol over  the  national  sources  of  income. 
States  like  the  Argentine  Republic,  Chile, 
Brazil  and  Uruguay  now  enjoy  a  high  credit 
in  European  banking  circles,  and  most 
of  the  others  are  making  earnest  efforts  to 
reduce  their  indebtedness  by  fair  and  hon- 
orable means. 

Taxation  as  a  rule  is  heavy.    In  addition; 
to  import  and  export  duties  and  to  excise' 
taxes,  manj^  of  the  smaller  or  more  back-; 
ward  countries   resort   to  government   mo- 1 
nopolies  of  such  commodities  as  spirituous 
liquors,   salt,   tobacco  and  stamped  paper, 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  revenue.     This 
circumstance,  taken  in  connection  with  the 
general  inadequacy  of  home  manufactures, 
explains  in  some  measure  why  the  scale  of 
prices   for  many   articles   of   common   con- 
sumption is  so  high. 

The  currency  question  is  often  a  serious 
one.  Where  the  gold  standard  prevails,  as 
it  does  in  less  than  half  of  the  republics,  the 
fluctuations  in  exchange  are  relatively  slight. 
So  much  cannot  be  said  of  those  on  a  silver 
basis  and  having  depreciated  paper  as  the 


152  LATIN  AMERICA 

chief  circulating  medium.  Although  the 
constitutions  of  the  states  afflicted  by  money 
of  this  description  usually  prohibit  the  issue 
of  notes,  the  fact  does  not  prevent  the  local 
banks  from  evading  the  restriction,  if  they 
can  secure  government  approval  for  that 
purpose.  Of  all  the  countries,  Colombia 
and  Paraguay  are  the  ones  that  are  suffering 
most  keenly  at  pre^sent  from  issues  of  depre- 
ciated paper. 

Occasionally  such  expedients  have  been 
tried  as  the  prohibition  of  the  export  of 
silver  and  gold  coins,  and  even  the  reduction 
of  the  salaries  of  government  employees,  in 
order  to  provide  a  reserve  fund  that  may  meet 
the  difficulties  caused  by  an  unsound  cur- 
rency. The  more  advanced  states  have 
resorted  to  a  wiser  policy.  Some  of  them 
have  adopted  the  plan  of  setting  aside  a  cer-: 
tain  percentage  of  the  revenues  from  taxa- 
tion, and  of  depositing  the  sums  thus  ob-i 
tained  in  foreign  banks  for  the  redemption 
of  the  paper  money;  or  have  made  an  arrange- 
ment for  that  purpose  with  a  foreign  cor- 
poration which  would  accept  guaranteeai 
in  the  form  of  railway  and  mining  conces- 
sions. In  other  cases,  as  in  the  Argentine! 
Republic  and  Brazil,  the  fluctuations  ini 
exchange  have  been  obviated  in  large  measure 
through  the  establishment  of  what  are 
called  ** conversion  offices,"  by  the  regula* 


FINANCIAL  SITUATION  153 

tions  of  which  the  ratio  of  paper  to  gold  is 
definitely  fixed.  The  creation  of  national 
banks,  also,  has  greatly  contributed  toward 
the  removal  of  some  of  the  more  serious 
financial  difficulties. 

Few  of  the  cities  and  towns  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica enjoy  municipal  independence.  Though 
the  federal  districts  containing  the  national 
capital,  in  the  republics  where  the  federal 
system  prevails,  send  representatives  to 
congress,  the  fact  does  not  seem  to  assure 
them  any  greater  degree  of  control  over 
theu'  local  affairs.  As  a  rule  the  municipal 
officers  are  either  appointees  of  the  national 
or  provincial  authorities,  or  act  in  accordance 
with  their  direction. 

The  police  and  fire  service  is  commonly 
organized  on  a  military  basis,  and  the  men 
engaged  in  it  are  often  efficient  and  well 
drilled.  Burglary  is  practically  unknown, 
and  highway  robbery  a  very  rare  occurrence, 
outside  of  the  republics  in  which  grave 
poHtical  disturbances  still  exist.  In  five 
or  six  of  the  states  the  death  penalty  has 
been  abolished  altogether.  The  more  pro- 
gressive countries,  also,  have  adopted  an 
excellent  penal  system,  which  aims  at  the 
reformation,  rather  than  the  punishment,  of 
offenders  against  the  law. 


154  LATIN  AMERICA 

CHAPTER  XIII 

INDUSTRY 

Much  is  being  done  by  the  governments 
of  the  advanced  states  in  Latin  America 
to  encourage  the  staple  industries  of  min- 
ing, agriculture  and  stock-raising,  and  to 
foster  manufacturing  as  well.  Public  lands 
are  sold,  often  at  a  nominal  price,  with  a 
long  time  allowed  for  payment.  In  some 
cases  the  purchaser  is  obligated  to  stock  the 
land  and  put  up  needful  buildings.  Care  like- 
wise is  being  taken  to  avoid  increasing 
the  number  of  large  estates,  by  restricting 
within  a  reasonable  maximum  the  amount 
of  land  that  may  be  granted. 

For  the  promotion  of  agriculture  and  stock- 
raising,  loans,  bounties  and  prizes  are 
among  the  means  utilized,  particularly  for 
the  introduction  of  new  articles  of  produce. 
To  these  spurs  to  activity  may  be  added  the 
benefits  of  high  protective  duties,  exemption 
from  taxation  and  the  free  admission  of 
necessary  machinery.  Many  efforts  have 
been  made,  especially  in  Mexico,  to  reclaim 
arid  lands  by  an  extensive  system  of  irri- 
gation. Agricultural  and  mortgage  banks, 
also,  under  government  control,  loan  money 
to  farmers. 

As  a  stimulus  to  home  manufactures,  sev- 


INDUSTRY  155 

eral  of  the  governments  are  trying  to  change 
the  character  of  the  imports  from  foreign 
countries,  to  develop  natural  resources  and  to 
improve  the  facilities  of  transportation. 
They  have  increased  import  duties,  granted 
bounties,  aided  in  the  discovery  and  appli- 
cation of  various  kinds  of  fuel,  hitherto 
brought  from  abroad,  promoted  the  use  of 
water  power  from  rivei-s  and  falls,  and  en- 
couraged the  exportation  of  local  manu- 
factured products.  To  these  ends,  as  in  the 
case  of  Uruguay,  they  have  even  entered  into 
contracts  with  firms  and  individuals,  and 
have  supplied  part  of  the  capital  required. 

Several  of  the  countries,  notably  the 
Argentine  Republic  and  Uruguay,  have  es- 
tablished bureaus  of  inspection  and  experi- 
mental stations  for  the  benefit  of  indus- 
tries connected  with  agriculture  and  stock- 
raising.  Uruguay,  also,  has  created  a  bureau 
of  general  information  for  the  exhibition  of 
samples  of  all  materials  of  national  pro- 
duction, and  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  about 
the  resources  of  the  country  in  general. 
National  and  international  expositions  have 
been  held  in  such  states  as  the  Argentine 
Republic,  Brazil  and  Chile,  at  which  the 
industrial  products  have  been  displayed  to 
great  advantage.  Many  private  organi- 
zations, similarly,  have  carried  on  a  vigorous 
work  of  propaganda. 


156  LATIN  AMERICA 

Foreign  capital,  of  course,  has  been  em- 
ployed in  enormous  quantities.  Mines, 
agricultural  properties,  light,  power  and 
traction  enterprises  have  all  received  a 
mighty  impulse  toward  their  development 
from  this  source.  In  the  supply  of  capital, 
Great  Britain  still  occupies  easily  the  fore- 
most place,  followed  by  the  United  States, 
France  and  Germany,  more  or  less  in  the 
order  named.  British  and  American  capi- 
tal predominates  in  practically  all  of  the 
countries  in  and  around  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
and  the  Caribbean  Sea.  South  of  this  area 
British  funds  largely  control  the  situation. 

Throughout  the  republics  in  which  min- 
ing is  one  of  the  great  industries,  the  regu- 
lations governing  the  concession  and  working 
of  mining  properties  are  generally  very  liberal. 
The  number  of  claims  that  may  be  denounced 
is  unlimited,  the  annual  tax  on  each  claim 
light,  and  the  tax  on  the  exportation  of  the 
ore  reasonable.  Free  entry,  moreover,  for 
all  necessary  equipment  is  conceded,  at 
least  so  far  as  the  first  introduction  of  the 
material  is  concerned. 

Among  the  mining  processes  of  interest 
is  that  connected  with  the  extraction  of 
nitrate  of  soda  in  Chile.  The  crude  material, 
called  "caliche,"  is  found  at  depths  ranging 
from  one  foot  to  ten  feet  below  the  surface. 
For  the  purpose  of  mining  it,  a  shaft   is 


INDUSTRY  157 

sunk  and  a  charge  of  dynamite  placed  at  the 
bottom.  After  the  explosion,  the  chunks 
are  broken  up,  loaded  into  mule-carts  and 
taken  to  the  "oficina, "  or  nitrate-plant 
proper.  Here  they  are  pulverized  by  power- 
ful machinery,  and  the  powder  is  run  into 
huge  tanks  where  it  is  boiled  in  water  for 
ten  or  twelve  hours.  The  saturated  liquid, 
known  as  "calso,"  freed  from  gravelly 
refuse,  is  then  run  into  vats  to  cool  and  crys- 
tallize. When  dry,  the  nitrate  thus  procured 
is  put  into  bags  and  sent  by  rail  to  the  sea- 
ports. 

In  the  nitrate  region,  incidentally,  it  may 
be  said  that  trees  and  plants  are  unknown, 
and  the  employees  of  the  British,  x\merican 
and  German  firms  engaged  in  the  extraction 
of  the  material  have  to  live  on  what  is 
brought  them  from  without.  The  fact  seems 
all  the  more  remarkable  when  one  remembers 
that  nitrate  of  soda  is  the  chief  ingredient 
of  the  finest  fertilizers.  Nitric  acid,  salt- 
peter and  iodine  are  also  extracted  from  it. 

On  account  of  the  equable  climate  in  many 
of  the  cooler  areas  of  Latin  America,  agri- 
cultural operations  are  carried  on  all  tlie 
year  round.  Outside  of  the  highly  advanced 
states,  the  methods  of  tilling  the  soil  are 
often  very  primitive,  scarcely  improved  in 
fact  beyond  what  they  were  in  colonial  times. 
Food    plants    are   raised    mainly   for   local 


158  LATIN  AMERICA 

consumption.  They  consist  for  the  most 
part  of  maize,  black  beans,  rice,  "quinoa," 
which  is  a  species  of  millet,  manioc,  potatoes 
and  yams.  In  Mexico,  maize  and  beans  are 
the  great  food  staples  of  the  poorer  classes, 
and  constitute  the  dishes  known  as  "fri- 
joles,"  and  "tortillas." 

Until  comparatively  a  few  years  ago,  the 
Argentine  Republic  and  its  little  neighbor, 
Uruguay,  were  almost  entirely  pastoral 
countries;  but  many  of  the  cattle-raisers 
are  now  inclined  to  believe  that  the  future  of 
both  lands  lies  rather  in  agriculture.  The 
result  is  that  the  Argentine  Republic,  in 
particular,  has  become  one  of  the  greatest 
producers  of  cereals,  flax  and  linseed  in  the 
world. 

Several  of  the  methods  pursued  in  con- 
nection with  the  raising  and  elaboration  of 
agricultural  products  call  for  a  few  words 
of  description.  In  Costa  Rica,  for  example, 
the  banana  plant  begins  to  yield  fruit  a 
few  months  after  the  shoot  has  been  put  into 
the  ground.  At  the  close  of  each  season  the 
laborer  cuts  the  shoot  with  a  "machete,'* 
a  species  of  long  pruning  knife,  sticks  the 
"machete"  into  the  earth,  gives  it  a  twist, 
puts  in  the  shoot,  stamps  it,  and  the  process 
is  done.  In  some  of  the  tropical  countries, 
like  Paraguay,  the  cultivation  of  oranges 
and  other  citrus  fruits  offers  great  promise. 


INDUSTRY  15^ 

not  only  for  the  "golden  apples"  themselves, 
but  for  the  orange-wine,  citric  acid,  citrates 
of  linie,  candied  peel  and  orange-flower 
water,  which  may  be  made  from  them. 

The  coffee-tree,  as  seen  for  instance  on  the 
plantations  (fazendas)  in  southern  Brazil, 
may  grow  to  a  height  of  twenty  feet,  but  for 
the  sake  of  convenience  in  picking  it  is 
rarely  allowed  to  reach  more  than  eight  or 
nine.  It  begins  to  bear,  ordinarily,  when 
from  three  to  five  years  old.  During  the 
harvest  season  the  pickers  are  busy  at  work 
with  huge  baskets  strapped  to  their  backs. 
They  labor  for  reputation  as  well  as  for 
money,  and  usually  receive  more  of  the 
former  than  they  do  of  the  latter,  thus 
having  something  in  common  with  a  great 
many  other  classes  of  people  in  the  world. 
At  all  events,  the  fame  of  being  the  fastest 
picker  is  one  very  much  to  be  envied. 

After  the  outer  pulp  and  skin  have  been 
removed,  the  coffee  beans  are  subjected 
to  a  thorough  cleansing,  spread  out  on 
drying  terraces,  made  of  cement,  and  ex- 
posed to  the  heat  of  the  sun.  To  hasten  the 
course  of  drying,  which  sometimes  runs  over 
several  weeks,  workmen  are  engaged  in 
constantly  turning  over  the  beans  with  rakes. 
The  inner  skin  adhering  closely  to  the  beans 
is  then  taken  off  by  a  hulling  machine,  and 
the  chaff  blown  away  by  a  process  of  win- 


160  LATIN  AAIERICA 

nowing.  When  this  is  done,  women  and  girls 
are  assigned  the  task  of  sorting  the  beans 
into  "Mocha,"  "Java"  and  other  grades 
of  coffee. 

Some  years  ago,  furthermore,  the  Brazil- 
ian State  of  Sao  Paulo,  in  which  the  bulk  of 
the  coffee  is  produced,  warded  off  the 
dangers  arising  from  an  enormous  surplus 
crop  by  buying  up  the  floating  supply 
at  a  minimum  price  and  selling  it  as  the 
market  might  demand.  This  is  known  as 
the  "valorization"  scheme. 

A  word  or  two  might  now  be  said  about 
the  production  of  cacao.  After  the  pods 
containing  the  cacao  beans  are  cut  or 
broken  away  from  the  trunk  of  the  tree  to 
which  they  are  attached,  the  beans  are 
freed  from  their  enveloping  pulp,  spread 
on  bamboo  matting  and  exposed  to  the  rays 
of  the  sun.  So  as  to  assure  evenness  in 
drying,  workmen  rake  them  over  every 
once  in  a  while,  sometimes,  as  in  Ecuador, 
by  scuffling  through  them  with  their  bare 
feet.  After  the  beans  have  been  ground 
and  otherwise  treated  in  the  foreign  coun- 
tries to  which  they  are  exported,  the  powder 
is  flavored  with  sugar  and  vanilla,  and  the 
resultant  product  is  called  chocolate. 

The  "yerba,"  a  species  of  tea,  raised 
in  Paraguay  and  the  adjoining  districts  of 
the  Ajrgentine  Republic  and  Brazil,  is  made 


INDUSTRY  161 

from  the  leaves  of  a  tree  that  grows  partly 
wild  and  partly  under  cultivation.  The 
leaves  are  gathered  on  huge  branches  at  a 
time  by  Indian  laborers  and  shipped  to  the 
cities,  where  they  are  dried,  cleansed  and 
pulverized  by  machinery,  and  packed  in 
bags  for  shipment.  As  the  leaves  contain 
resin,  essential  oil  and  a  small  quantity  of 
caffeine  and  tannin,  they  have  the  charac- 
teristic properties  of  tea  and  coffee,  but 
in  such  proportions  that  the  product  is  not 
injurious.  In  the  southern  part  of  South 
America  the  use  of  "yerba"  as  a  beverage 
is  very  popular.  Less  harmful  than  either 
tea  or  coffee,  it  is  more  stimulating.  It 
is  commonly  drunk  through  a  spoon-shaped 
tube,  called  a  "bombilla, "  or  "little  pirnip,'* 
out  of  a  small  pear-shaped  gourd,  called 
a  "mate"  or  "cuya. " 

Coca  is  a  shrub  found  only  in  Peru  and 
Bolivia.  It  is  long-lived,  and  begins  to 
bear  a  few  months  after  planting,  as  many 
as  four  crops  bemg  raised  in  a  year.  Though 
cultivated  at  a  high  altitude,  the  shrub 
grows  only  in  the  temperate  areas.  After  the 
leaves  have  been  dried  for  a  few  hours,  they 
are  pressed  into  bales  and  exported  in  this 
form. 

All  through  the  vast  stretches  of  the  Ama- 
zon valley,  and  other  areas  in  Latin  America, 
will  be  found  the  camps  of  the  wandering 


162  LATIN  AMERICA 

rubber  gatherers.  The  rubber  trees  vary  in 
height  from  fifty  to  seventy  feet,  and  in 
diameter  from  two  to  three  feet.  From  the 
many  varieties  of  trees  there  are  two  or 
three  principal  rubber  products  taken,  one 
of  which,  called  in  Spanish  "jebe, "  is  more 
elastic  than  the  others,  and  consequently 
worth  more  in  th^  market.  The  less  valu- 
able sort  of  rubber  is  of  tea  obtained  by  fell- 
ing the  tree,  in  order  to  extract  its  milky 
sap  or  juice.  The  "jebe,"  on  the  other 
hand,  is  drawn  out  by  making  incisions  in 
a  spiral  form  around  the  tnmk,  and  hang- 
ing under  them  a  number  of  little  tin  cups. 
So  sensitive  is  the  bark  of  the  tree  that  little 
more  than  a  scratch  will  cause  the  fluid  to 
ooze  out. 

The  work  of  tapping  the  trees  is  begun  at 
daybreak.  In  the  course  of  the  afternoon 
the  rubber-gatherer  collects  the  contents  of 
the  cup  into  a  bucket.  Then  the  rubber 
milk  is  coagulated  over  a  fire  built  of  sticks 
of  wood  containing  certain  chemical  proper- 
ties. When  duly  "  curdled, "  the  milk  is  made 
into  large  balls  of  a  brownish-black  color. 
A  recent  Brazilian  invention,  however,  prom- 
ises to  furnish  a  means  of  "curing"  rubber 
without  the  use  of  smoke,  through  adding 
a  certain  preservative  that  enables  the  milk 
to  be  kept  in  liquid  form  until  ready  for 
coagulation  and  pressure  into  sheets. 


INDUSTRY  163 

In  many  cases  the  exploitation  of  the 
rubber  forests  is  wasteful  beyond  measure, 
and  the  treatment  of  the  rubber-gatherers, 
who  are  commonly  Indians  and  half  breeds,  by 
their  taskmasters,  none  too  gentle.  This 
treatment,  added  to  their  lonely  life  in  wild 
forests  and  in  an  unhealthy  climate,  makes 
their  lot  a  deplorable  one;  though  it  must 
be  admitted  that  the  rubber  traders  have 
indirectly  helped,  more  than  any  other 
class,  to  open  the  interior  of  the  several  coun- 
tries, survey  the  navigable  waters  and  pro- 
mote exploration  in  general.  Small  wonder 
is  it,  therefore,  that  a  modest,  useful  and 
valuable  product  like  rubber  should  have 
been  given  the  epithet  "black  gold,"  sug- 
gestive of  the  evil  actions  too  frequently 
associated  with  the  search  for  that  precious 
metal.  It  should  be  said,  however,  that  the 
governments  of  Brazil  and  Peru  have  made 
efforts  to  lessen  some  of  the  worst  phases 
of  the  situation. 

Though  stock-breeding  is  an  important 
industry  in  many  of  the  Latin-American 
countries,  it  holds  chief  place  in  the  activi- 
ties of  the  Argentine  Republic.  The  finest 
breeds  of  European  and  Arabian  horses, 
and  of  European  cattle  and  sheep  have 
been  brought  thithier,  and  they  have 
thriven  wonderfully.  In  the  number  of 
horses  on  its  ranches,  the  Argentine  Repub- 


164  LATIN  AMERICA 

He  ranks  third  in  the  world,  coming  after 
Russia  and  the  United  States,  in  the  num- 
ber of  cattle  third,  after  India  and  the 
United  States,  and  in  the  number  of  sheep 
second  only  to  Australia.  A  specialty  is 
made  of  breeding  draft  and  race  horses. 
Enormous  herds  of  cattle,  also,  roam  over 
the  "pampas."  Here  the  fine  soil  and  ex- 
cellent pasturage,  so  conducive  to  the  size 
and  productiveness  of  the  cattle,  give  them  a 
superior  "bloom,"  as  the  stock-raisers  would 
say.  Though  not  always  greater  in  weight 
or  in  amount  of  beef  than  the  cattle  of  the 
United  States,  some  of  the  finest  bulls  weigh 
a  ton,  and  yield  500  or  600  pounds  of  beef. 
In  the  Argentine  Republic,  furthermore, 
are  raised  countless  millions  of  sheep,  the 
progenitors  of  which,  like  those  of  the  cattle, 
came  directly  or  indirectly  from  England. 
Much  of  the  wool  produced  is  of  the  fine 
quality  and  glossy  appearance  so  much 
sought  after. 

Not  only  stock-breeding,  but  the  industries 
associated  with  the  preparation  of  animal 
products  flourish  in  both  the  Argentine 
Republic  and  Uruguay.  "Charqui,"  chilled 
meat,  tinned  tongues,  beef  extracts,  hides, 
skins,  tallow  and  wool  are  numbered  in  the 
list.  "Charqui"  consists  of  beef  cut  into 
long,  thin  strips  and  dried  in  the  sun.  When 
fresh,  properly  cured  and  suitably  cooked. 


INDUSTRY  166 

it  is  quite  palatable.  Liebig's  Extract  of 
Meat  Company,  one  of  the  largest  estab- 
lishments of  its  kind  in  the  world,  is  located 
in  Uruguay.  Here,  and  in  the  Argentine 
Republic,  the  great  stockyards  and  refriger- 
ating plants,  and  the  numerous  dairy  in- 
dustries, especially  in  Buenos  Ayres,  are 
centers  of  busy  life.  The  various  activities 
visible  on  the  huge  "estancias, "  or  cattle- 
ranches,  in  particular,  are  objects  of  absorb- 
ing interest. 

Compared  with  the  great  and  widespread 
industries  of  mining,  agriculture  and  stock- 
raising,  those  connected  with  manufacturing 
and  the  mechanical  arts  in  general  have 
reached  little  more  than  the  preliminary 
stage  in  most  of  the  Latin-American  coun- 
tries. Aside  from  primitive  handicrafts, 
the  manufacturing  enterprises  are  associ- 
ated, mainly  in  direct  fashion,  with  the 
three  staple  industries  themselves.  The 
circumstance  is  explained  in  large  measure 
by  the  relative  backwardness  in  economic 
development  as  a  whole,  and  by  the  lack 
of  sufficient  capital  and  skilled  labor.  Under 
present  conditions,  perhaps,  it  might  be  de- 
sirable that  this  situation  continue,  since  the 
countries  concerned,  for  many  years  to 
come,  will  find  it  more  profitable  to  export 
food  products  and  raw  material,  in  exchange 
for  European    and  American    goods,   than 


166  LATIN  AMERICA 

to  attempt  manufacturing  on  their  own 
account. 

So  far  as  the  distinctly  tropical  areas  enter 
into  the  question,  the  existence  of  an  essen- 
tially factory  or  industrial  life  seems  al- 
together improbable,  except  in  the  very 
remote  future.  In  the  temperate  countries, 
however,  the  encouraging  development  of 
local  industries  may  soon  put  them  in  a 
position  to  meet  a  large  number  of  the  re- 
quirements of  the  home  market,  and  thereby 
lessen  their  dependence  upon  foreign  manu- 
factures for  the  supplies  demanded  by  an 
advancing  civilization.  Aside  from  the 
industries  already  mentioned,  flour-mills, 
distilleries,  breweries,  sugar-mills  and  weav- 
ing-mills may  be  included  in  the  list.  Yet, 
even  in  the  largest  industrial  centers  the 
manufacturing  enterprises  beloiiging  to  citi- 
zens of  the  republic  are  scarcely  a  tenth  of 
those  owned  and  conducted  by  foreigners. 

In  regard  to  the  primitive  handicrafts  pur- 
sued, especially  among  the  peoples  of  Indian 
stock,  it  may  be  said  that  a  stout,  service- 
able cloth  is  woven  from  the  llama,  vicuna 
and  alpaca  wool,  one  of  the  chief  articles 
made  being  the  "poncho,"  a  sort  of  blanket, 
commonly  worn  in  the  country  districts. 
Cotton  goods  of  coarse  texture  are  woven 
in  Peru  and  southern  Brazil.  In  Mexico, 
the   "pita,"   a  plant  resembling  the  pine- 


INDUSTRY  167 

apple,  yields  a  strong  fiber  for  spinning  and 
weaving.  Here,  also,  the  "rebozo,"  the 
"sarape"  and  other  articles  of  dress  are 
made,  chiefly  out  of  cotton.  The  so-called 
"Panama  hats"  of  the  best  grade  are  woven 
by  hand  in  Ecuador,  from  a  kind  of  straw 
growing  in  the  coast  region  of  that  country. 
In  Nicaragua,  similarly,  are  produced  "Pana- 
ma chains. "  These  are  made  of  solid  or  hol- 
low gold  wire,  strung  like  hair-chains;  and 
some  of  the  specimens  turned  out  are  good 
examples  of  the  goldsmith 's  art.  The  women 
of  Paraguay,  also,  are  expert  in  the  knitting 
of  "nanduti, "  a  kind  of  filmy  lace,  not  unlike 
a  spider  web. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  native  in- 
dustries is  that  which  has  to  do  with  manu- 
facturing the  many  derivatives  from  the 
"maguey,"  and  other  varieties  of  cacti, 
grown  in  Mexico.  The  list  of  such  deriva- 
tives includes  ropes,  twine,  thread,  thatch, 
mats,  hammocks,  paper  and,  above  all,  three 
kinds  of  liquor,  the  best  known  of  which  is 
called  "pulque,"  the  national  beverage  of 
Mexico.  "Pulque"  is  obtained  through 
fermentation  of  the  sap  of  the  "maguey"  by 
a  process  that  dates  back  to  the  time  of  the 
Aztecs.  If  taken  in  moderation,  the  liquor 
is  a  tonic  and  is  nutritive  as  well.  The  word 
itself,  curiously  enough,  is  of  Araucanian, 
and  not  of  Aztec,  origin. 


168  LATIN  AMERICA 

From  the  produce  of  the  "vegas"  or  to- 
bacco plantations  of  Cuba,  including  those 
of  the  world-famed  "Vuelta  Abajo"  dis- 
trict, more  than  a  hundred  cigar  factories 
in  Havana  alone  turn  out  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions of  cigars  a  year,  and  many  million 
pounds  of  leaf  tobacco.  Some  of  these  fac- 
tories employ  upwards  of  600  workmen.  In 
the  larger  ones  a  professional  reader  is  en- 
gaged, who  reads  from  books  or  newspapers, 
chosen  by  the  workmen  themselves,  as  a 
means  of  holding  their  attention  to  their 
duties,  and  of  preventing  possible  conver- 
sation or  argument.  In  Cuba,  also,  and  in 
other  countries  where  sugar-cane  is  raised 
in  large  quantities,  the  refining  of  sugar,  the 
production  of  molasses  and  the  distillation 
of  rum  are  extensively  carried  on.  Shoe- 
making  is  an  industry  prosecuted  with  con- 
siderable success  in  such  countries  as  Chile 
and  Colombia,  mainly  through  the  use  of 
American  machinery. 

CHAPTER  XIV 

COMMERCE 

All  of  the  larger  cities  of  Latin  America 
are  well  provided  with  banking  institu- 
tions. In  the  northern  group  of  republics 
American     banking     interests    are     strong, 


COMMERCE  169 

whereas  in  South  America  the  reverse  is  the 
case.  Here  the  British  and  German  estab- 
lishments exercise  practically  complete  con- 
trol over  the  money  market,  and  enjoy 
large  profits  on  their  operations.  Trust 
companies  are  rare.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  corporate  monopolies  of  the  Ameri- 
can sort,  except  in  some  of  the  northern 
countries,  and  to  a  certain  extent,  also,  in 
the  Argentine  Republic,  where  they  have 
bought  up  several  of  the  packing-houses. 

Regarding  the  commercial  attitude  and 
business  usages  of  the  Latin  Americans, 
it  may  be  said  that  in  all  of  the  republics 
a  small  number  of  persons  are  found  who 
view  with  disfavor  and  apprehension  the 
introduction  of  foreign  capital  and  the  in- 
pouring  of  Europeim  immigrants.  Pre- 
possessions of  this  sort,  however,  are  not  com- 
monly influential.  A  marked  desire,  on  the 
contrary,  for  the  introduction  of  American, 
as  well  as  British  and  German,  capital  exists 
in  substantially  all  of  the  countries.  Not 
only  is  the  value  of  capital  for  the  purpose 
of  developing  natural  resources  well  under- 
stood, but  there  is  a  shrewd  notion  afoot, 
also,  of  the  additional  benefits  that  would 
proceed  from  a  cheapening  of  that  commod- 
ity were  the  American  article  to  be  placed 
in  effective  competition  with  the  British 
and  the  German. 


170  LATIN  AMERICA 

On  the  other  hand,  the  principle  of  com- 
petition, as  applied  in  particular  to  the 
sale  of  foreign  goods,  either  purchased  out- 
right or  sold  on  commission,  is  not  so  warmly 
welcomed  by  the  average  business  house  in 
Latin  America.  When  it  undertakes  to 
handle  such  goods,  it  is  apt  to  demand  an 
exclusive  right  to  their  sale,  and  looks  askance 
at  any  attempt  to  supply  a  competitor 
with  the  same  product. 

That  the  great  industrial  and  commercial 
enterprises  of  the  Latin-Aonerican  countries 
are  controlled  largely  by  Europeans  and 
Americans  is  a  circumstance  not  due  al- 
together to  the  fact  that  the  capital  required 
for  their  initiation  and  development  has 
come  from  outside  of  those  countries  them- 
selves. Viewed  as  a  whole,  the  Latin  Ameri- 
cans, whatever  their  nationality,  appear  to 
lack  the  business  instinct  of  the  British,  the 
German  and  the  American.  Some  of  the 
more  prominent  mercantile  houses  are  fam- 
iliar enough  with  modern  methods.  Close 
students  of  their  foreign  tutors,  and  pos- 
sessed of  much  ability  of  their  own,  the 
members  of  such  jBrms  enlarge  their  ac- 
quaintance with  the  present  requirements  of 
business,  by  visiting  the  trade  centers  of 
Europe  and  the  United  States. 

The  average  Latin-American  merchant, 
however,  is  cautious  and  conservative  after 


COMMERCE  171 

the  manner  of  his  Spanish  or  Portuguese 
ancestors.  Invariably  courteous  in  his  bear- 
ing, and  often  formal  and  punctilious  to  a 
degree,  he  expects  a  like  treatment  in  return. 
He  is  not  quick  to  perceive  the  advantage 
of  talking  business  the  moment  his  visitor 
arrives,  or  of  buying  an  article  that  has  the 
element  of  novelty  as  its  chief  recommenda- 
tion. Instead,  he  is  disposed  to  prefer  that 
which  he  knows  by  long-continued  usage 
and,  when  the  familiar  article  is  brought 
from  abroad,  he  wants  it  precisely  in  the  form 
to  which  he  is  accustomed. 

In  this  connection  an  interesting  contrast 
is  frequently  offered  between  the  practices 
of  the  countries  on  the  east  coast  of  South 
America  and  those  on  the  west  coast.  So 
far  as  the  business  man  in  the  former  is 
concerned,  he  has  very  little  sentiment, 
as  a  rule,  and  accordingly  buys  from  the 
person  who  sells  the  cheapest.  On  the  west 
coast  the  dominant  idea  is  rather  one  of 
friendship  and  relationship.  Here  the  mer- 
chant prefers  to  do  business,  even  at  a 
disadvantage,  with  an  individual  or  a  firm 
that  he  has  known,  rather  than  to  break  off 
his  old  connections  for  the  sake  of  a  new- 
comer who  may  offer  a  larger  profit. 

Exemplifying  the  trait  to  which  atten- 
tion has  already  been  called,  the  Latin- 
American    business    man    is    apt    to    make 


172  LATIN  AMERICA 

promises  of  performance  on  a  morrow  that  is 
long  in  coming.  Such  assurances  bring  to 
mind  the  phrase  of  the  witty  Frenchman, 
who  remarked  that  the  only  Spanish  expres- 
sion which  was  more  common  than  "man- 
ana"  (to-morrow)  was  "pasado  maiiana" 
(day  after  to-morrow) !  To  the  extent  that 
the  promises  refer  to  payments  and  credits, 
ancestral  tradition  is  not  alone  responsible 
for  the  slowness  of  the  one,  or  for  the  length 
of  time  demanded  in  the  case  of  the  other. 
The  circumstance  itself  is  not  unusual  in 
countries  relatively  undeveloped,  where  there 
maj'^  be  an  abundance  of  natural  products 
accompanied  by  a  scarcity  of  ready  money 
to  meet  demands  on  short  notice.  The 
standard  of  financial  morality  among  Latin- 
American  business  men  in  general  is  high, 
and  bankruptcy  relatively  infrequent.  Proof 
of  this  assertion  is  found  in  the  long  credits 
granted  by  the  British  and  German  com- 
mercial  houses. 

In  the  larger  cities  the  shops  compare 
favorably  with  those  of  similar  centers 
in  Europe.  Outside  of  Mexico,  Buenos 
Ayres,  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Santiago,  de- 
partment stores  are  almost  unknown.  The 
more  important  mercantile  houses  are  com- 
monly of  British,  German  or  American 
ownership  and  management,  except  that  the 
American  element  is  usually  lacking  in  the 


COMJUERCE  173 

South  American  republics.  Small  shops 
for  the  sale  of  drygoods,  provisions  and  the 
like  are  ordinarily  in  the  hands  of  Germans, 
Italians,  Spaniards  and  Portuguese. 

High  tariffs  on  imported  articles  are  the 
rule  in  Latin-American  countries,  and  are 
levied  for  the  production  of  revenue,  per- 
haps, more  than  for  the  stimulation  of  home 
manufactures  as  such.  Though  food  and 
lodging  outside  of  the  largest  cities  are  not 
expensive,  manufactured  commodities  and 
articles  of  comfort,  convenience  and  luxury, 
imported  from  abroad,  are  costlj'.  Chile 
is  about  the  only  state  that  has  an  extensive 
free  list  for  foreign  goods,  a  concession  due 
to  the  large  revenue  obtained  from  the 
export  tax  on  nitrate  of  soda.  Despite  the 
heavy  protective  duties,  however,  the  annual 
trade  returns  of  the  more  advanced  countries 
are  apt  to  show  a  steady  increase. 

The  duties  levied  in  Latin-American  ports 
are  more  commonly  specific  than  ad  valorem, 
the  weight  being  determined  strictly  in 
accordance  with  the  metric  system,  which  is 
in  use  practically  everywhere,  except  oc- 
casionally among  the  lower  classes.  Tariff 
schedules  are  often  complicated  and,  unless 
followed  verj'  carefully,  may  cause  articles 
to  be  taxed  much  higher  than  the  class  to 
which  they  properly  belong. 

In  their  foreign  trade  a  majority  of  the 


174  LATIN  AMERICA 

Latin-American  republics  show  a  consider- 
able excess  of  exports  over  imports.  This 
excess  would  be  a  good  sign  of  prosperity, 
but  for  the  fact  that  an  enormous  part  of  the 
capital  engaged  in  producing  the  exported 
articles  is  foreign,  and  hence  that  the  earn- 
ings of  the  capital  go  out  of  the  country. 

The  chief  metallic  and  mineral  substances 
exported  from  the  Latin-American  countries 
are  silver  (Mexico,  Peru,  Bolivia,  Salvador, 
Honduras  and  Costa  Rica);  copper  (Peru, 
Chile,  Mexico  and  Bolivia);  tin  (Bolivia); 
gold  (Mexico,  Colombia,  Nicaragua,  Hon- 
duras, Salvador  and  Costa  Rica);  nitrate 
of  soda  (Chile);  petroleum  (Mexico  and 
Peru);  and  bismuth  (Bolivia).  The  output 
of  silver  from  Mexico  represents  over  one 
third  of  the  world's  produce,  and  is  drawn 
mainly  from  three  mineral  districts,  which 
were  worked  also  in  colonial  times.  Bolivia 
produces  tin  second  in  amount  only  to  that 
of  the  Straits  Settlements,  and  the  bulk  of  the 
world's  nitrate  comes  from  Chile. 

The  principal  exports  of  agricultural 
products,  similarly,  are  represented  by  coffee 
(Brazil,  Mexico,  Colombia,  Venezuela,  Gua- 
temala, Salvador,  Nicaragua,  Costa  Rica, 
Haiti  and  Ecuador);  sugar-cane  (Cuba, 
the  Dominican  Republic  and  Peru);  tobacco 
(Cuba,  Brazil,  the  Dominican  Republic 
and  Paraguay);  cacao  (Brazil,  Ecuador,  the 


COMMERCE  175 

Dominican  Republic,  Venezuela  and  Haiti); 
bananas  and  other  fruits  (Costa  Rica, 
Colombia,  Panama  and  Honduras);  cotton 
(Peru  and  Haiti) ;  "  henequen, "  "  ixtle, "  sisal 
hemp  and  other  vegetable  fibers  (Mexico) ;  and 
cereals  (the  Argentine  Republic  andUruguay). 
Brazil  sends  out  four  fifths  of  the  world's 
supply  of  coffee,  and  the  Argentine  Republic 
ranks  third  among  the  nations  of  the  earth 
in  its  supply  of  maize,  and  fifth  in  that  of 
wheat.  Panama  hats  constitute  one  of  the 
chief  exports  of  Ecuador. 

The  exportation  of  forest  products  includes 
rubber  (Brazil,  Mexico,  Peru,  Bolivia,  Ven- 
ezuela, Ecuador,  Panama  and  Nicaragua); 
hardwoods  (Guatemala,  Paraguay  and  Ni- 
caragua); dyewoods  (Haiti);  "yerba"  (Para- 
guay and  Brazil);  and  ivory  nuts  (Ecuador 
and  Panama) .  About  one  half  of  the  rubber 
used  in  commerce  comes  from  Brazil  alone. 

Animal  products  are  exported  chiefly 
by  the  Argentine  Republic,  Uruguay,  and, 
to  a  much  less  extent,  Brazil,  Colombia, 
Venezuela,  Guatemala  and  Paraguay.  The 
Argentine  Republic  ranks  first  among  the 
countries  of  the  world  in  its  supply  of  chilled 
meat,  and  is  second  only  to  Australia  in  its 
exportation  of  sheep  and  wool. 

According  to  the  returns  for  1911,  in  the 
order  of  annual  value  of  foreign  trade  the 
Argentine  Republic  heads  the  list,  with  about 


176  LATIN  AJ^IERICA 

$670,000,000.  Brazil,  its  nearest  competitor, 
has  approximately  five  sixths  of  this  amount. 
Cuba,  Mexico  and  Chile  do  a  foreign  business 
valued  at  more  than  $200,000,000;  and 
Uruguay,  Peru,  Bolivia,  Colombia  and  Vene- 
zuela from  somewhat  less  than  $100,000,000 
down  to  $30,000,000  a  year  respectively. 
The  Argentine  R^^public,  Brazil,  Chile  and 
Uruguay  carry  on  seven  eighths  of  the  total 
trade  of  the  South  American  continent.  The 
rest  have  a  commerce  worth  less  than  that  of 
Denmark.  Brazil,  with  a  population  about 
one  and  one  half  times  as  great  as  that  of 
Mexico,  has  four  times  as  much  com- 
merce; and  the  Argentine  Republic,  with 
about  half  the  population  of  Mexico,  has 
nearly  six  times  as  much  commerce. 

For  their  size  and  the  value  of  their  re- 
sources, Ecuador  and  Colombia  are  eco- 
nomically the  most  backward  countries  in 
South  America.  Not  only  are  their  resources 
largely  undeveloped,  but  their  products 
for  export  fall  far  below  the  proportion  that 
might  be  expected  from  the  number  of  the 
population,  and  their  imports,  also,  are  rela- 
tively insignificant.  Their  importance  in  the 
commercial  world  lies  in  the  possibility  of 
future  growth  rather  than  in  their  present 
status.  Paraguay,  Nicaragua  and  Honduras 
have  the  least  foreign  commerce  of  all  the 
Latin-American  republics. 


COMMERCE  177 

Because  of  the  insufficient  development 
of  home  manufactures,  the  imports  of  the 
Latin-American  countries,  as  a  rule,  are  very 
great.  Textiles,  especially  cotton  goods, 
constitute  a  leading  article  of  import  among 
all  of  the  states;  hardware,  machinery  and 
construction  material  among  all  but  three 
(Haiti,  Panama  and  Honduras);  and  food- 
stuffs, particularly  flour,  among  all  but 
two  (the  Argentine  Republic  and  the  Dom- 
inican Republic).  Boots  and  shoes  are 
among  the  principal  items  of  import  in  Sal- 
vador; drugs  and  medicines  in  Salvador 
and  Venezuela;  glassware  and  pottery  in 
Uruguay;  coal  in  the  Argentine  Republic, 
Chile  and  Peru;  and  gold,  in  Bolivia. 

Among  the  foreign  nations  to  which  the 
Latin  Americans  export  their  products,  the 
United  States  holds  first  place  in  all  of  the 
countries  in  North  America,  except  Guate- 
mala, and  in  none  of  those  in  South  America, 
except  Brazil,  Colombia  and  Venezuela  —  or 
twelve  altogether.  In  fact  the  United  States 
is  the  chief  customer  for  the  coffee  of 
Brazil.  It  ranks  second,  however,  in  com- 
mercial relations  with  Guatemala,  Peru  and 
Chile.  The  Argentine  Republic  receives 
most  of  the  exports  of  Paraguay  and  a  con- 
siderable amount,  also,  of  those  of  Uruguay. 

Of  the  European  countries  to  which  the 
Latin-American    states    despatch    the    bulk 


178  LATIN  AMERICA 

of  their  exports,  Great  Britain  stands  first 
in  dealings  with  the  Argentine  Republic, 
Chile,  Bolivia  and  Peru,  and  second  in  those 
with  Brazil,  Colombia,  Mexico,  Cuba,  Costa 
Rica,  Panama  and  Nicaragua.  Germany  is 
the  chief  recipient  of  the  exports  of  Gua- 
temala, and  ranks  second  in  the  export  trade 
of  the  Argentine  Republic,  Bolivia,  the  Dom- 
inican Republic,  Salvador,  Paraguay  and 
Honduras.  France  stands  first  in  the  ex- 
port trade  of  Uruguay  and  Ecuador,  and 
second  in  that  of  Haiti  and  Venezuela. 

Great  Britain  and  the  United  States 
share  the  first  rank  among  the  foreign 
nations  from  which  the  Latin-American 
republics  receive  most  of  their  imported 
goods.  The  United  States  surpasses  Great 
Britain  in  the  import  trade  of  all  of 
the  republics  in  North  America,  and  in 
that  of  none  of  the  republics  of  South 
America,  except  Colombia  and  Venezuela, 
or  twelve  altogether,  the  chief  difference  be- 
tween this  and  the  twelve  already  mentioned 
consisting  in  the  inclusion  of  Guatemala  and 
the  exclusion  of  Brazil.  The  value  of  the 
imports  from  Brazil  into  the  United  States, 
in  fact,  is  very  much  less  than  that  of  its 
exports  to  that  country.  Elsewhere  in  South 
America,  the  United  States  is  second  to  Great 
Britain  in  Peru  and  Ecuador. 

Great  Britain,  on  the  other  hand,  surpasses 


TRANSPORTATION  179 

the  United  States  in  the  import  trade  of  all 
the  South  American  republics,  except  Col- 
ombia and  Venezuela,  or  eight  altogether, 
and  holds  second  rank  in  that  of  the  two 
just  named,  and  of  all  of  the  North  American 
countries,  except  Mexico,  the  Dominican 
Republic,  Haiti  and  Guatemala.  Germany 
occupies  the  second  place  in  the  import  trade 
of  six  South  American  states  (the  Argentine 
Republic,  Brazil,  Chile,  Uruguay,  Bolivia 
and  Paraguay),  and  of  three  of  those  of 
North  America  (Mexico,  the  Dominican 
Republic  and  Guatemala). 


CHAPTER  XV 

TEANSPORTATION 

On  land  the  system  of  transportation  and 
communication  in  Latin  America,  taking 
the  republics  as  a  whole,  is  quite  defective. 
In  many  of  the  mountainous  and  tropical 
regions,  and  even  in  some  portions  of  the 
temperate  areas,  railways  are  practically 
non-existent.  The  result  is  that  throughout 
most  of  Latin  America  the  modes  of  over- 
land transportation,  on  roads  that  are  often 
little  more  than  mule-tracks,  are  about  as 
primitive  as  they  were  in  colonial  days. 
Pack  animals,  ox-carts  and  human  car- 
riers have  to  be  brought  into  requisition. 


180  LATIN  AMERICA 

Though  the  rate  of  speed  is  necessarily  very 
slow,  the  carrying  capacity  in  one  form  or 
another  is  surprisingly  great. 

Almost  any  article,  no  matter  how  heavy 
or  bulky,  from  a  piano  to  a  huge  piece  of 
machinery,  can  be  borne  through  the  jungles 
or  up  the  steep  mountain  passes.  Except 
in  some  of  the  more  advanced  states,  don- 
key or  llama  trains,  and  even  goats  and 
sheep,  laden  with  every  conceivable  sort  of 
merchandise,  are  everywhere  conspicuous. 
Whenever  any  particular  object  is  too  heavy 
or  too  unwieldy  for  the  beasts  of  burden  to 
carry  or  pull,  it  is  slung  on  poles  and  borne 
on  the  backs  of  men. 

Any  needless  deviation,  therefore,  from 
the  rules  of  packing  and  adjustment,  by 
reason  of  weight  or  size,  means  a  correspond- 
ing increase,  both  in  the  dijfficulties  of  trans- 
portation and  in  the  freight  charges.  As- 
suming that  the  goods  are  in  proper  form 
and  are  intrusted  to  experienced  carriers, 
the  risk  of  loss  or  injury  is  not  so  imminent 
as  it  might  seem.  The  very  existence  of  the 
risk,  nevertheless,  adds  materially  to  the 
insurance  rates;  and  in  all  cases  the  amounts 
charged  for  such  primitive  modes  of  carriage, 
to  say  nothing  of  those  exacted  by  the  small 
vessels  plying  on  many  of  the  rivers,  are  apt 
to  be  far  in  excess  of  what  is  demanded  for 
transportation  by  sea. 


TRANSPORTATION  181 

The  larger  cities  of  Latin  America  are 
provided  with  an  excellent  system  of  electric 
tramcars,  mainly  the  property  of  foreign 
corporations.  Wherever  the  exigencies  of 
traffic  demand  it,  the  disposition  is  increas- 
ing to  electrify  the  street  railways.  Tram- 
cars  drawn  by  horses  or  mules  are  derisively 
called  "cucarachas"  (cockroaches).  In 
the  more  advanced  countries,  of  course, 
automobiles  are  numerous,  especially  those 
of  the  French  type;  nor  is  it  unusual  to 
find  them,  wherever  the  condition  of  the  road 
will  allow  it,  in  the  backward  states. 

Except  in  Haiti,  the  Dominican  Republic, 
Nicaragua  and  Honduras,  the  railway  facil- 
ities in  the  group  of  republics  in  North  Amer- 
ica are  fairly  adequate  for  present  demands. 
In  South  America,  on  the  contrary,  apart 
from  certain  areas,  the  railway  situation 
is  very  deficient;  but  the  first  half  of  the 
twentieth  century  promises  to  be  a  great 
railway-building  era.  Never  has  the  con- 
struction of  iron  roads,  especially  in  the 
Argentine  Republic,  Brazil,  Chile,  Uruguay 
and  Bolivia  been  so  active  as  it  is  now. 
Distinct  progress  in  this  direction,  also,  is  visi- 
ble in  Peru,  Ecuador  and  Paraguay,  though 
not  so  much  in  Venezuela  and  Colombia. 

Political  disturbances,  unsettled  social  con- 
ditions, lack  of  funds  and  of  the  needful 
labor,  and  the  difficulties  arising  out  of  the 


182  LATIN  AMERICA 

physical  conformation  of  the  mountainous 
countries,  are  all  responsible  for  the  existing 
backwardness.  In  the  western  countries 
of  South  America,  traversed  by  the  Andes, 
there  are  more  problems  for  the  modern 
railway  engineer  to  solve  than  in  almost  any 
other  part  of  the  world  where  railways  are  re- 
quired. On  account  of  the  enormous  ob- 
stacles to  construction,  no  railways  have  yet 
been  completed  to  connect  adequately  the 
great  river  system  of  the  Atlantic  side 
of  the  continent  with  the  Pacific  coast.  It 
should  be  said,  however,  that  the  mag- 
nificent network  of  waterways  in  Brazil, 
the  Argentine  Republic,  Uruguay,  Venezuela, 
and  Colombia  have  compensated  in  some 
measure,  so  far,  for  the  relative  lack  of 
railways,  particularly  in  view  of  the  great 
progress  in  steam  navigation. 

Outside  of  Mexico,  Cuba,  the  Argentine 
Republic,  Brazil,  Chile  and  Uruguay,  which 
have  more  or  less  elaborate  trunk  systems, 
nearly  all  of  the  railways  in  Latin  America 
are  short-line  feeders  for  seaports,  consti- 
tuting thus  a  series  of  scattered,  imrelated 
units.  Among  the  Latin  republics  of 
North  America,  Cuba  is  the  country  that 
has  the  largest  railway  mileage  in  proportion 
to  its  area,  and  the  same  is  true  of  Uruguay 
in  South  America.  Colombia  is  the  one  that 
has  the  smallest. 


TRANSPORTATION  183 

In  states  like  Mexico,  the  Argentine 
Republic,  Brazil,  Chile  and  Uruguay,  the 
trains,  on  the  main  lines  at  least,  are  well 
provided  with  the  accommodations  that 
modern  requirements  of  convenience,  and 
even  luxury,  may  call  for.  Vestibuled 
throughout  and  supplied  with  parlor  cars, 
dining  cars  and  sleepers,  clean,  well  lighted 
and  ventilated,  they  meet  the  wishes  of  the 
traveler  in  practically  every  respect.  Even 
on  some  of  the  mountain  railways  and  the 
shorter  lines  running  a  comparatively  short 
distance  back  from  the  seacoast,  no  very 
serious  inconveniences  are  found.  The  Ar- 
gentine Republic,  in  fact,  has  vestibuled 
trains  for  the  transportation  of  cattle,  an 
arrangement  which  greatly  facilitates  the 
process  of  loading  the  cars. 

In  the  Latin  republics  of  North  America, 
where  American  influence  upon  railway  con- 
struction is  more  marked,  the  American 
car  is  the  type  commonly  used.  On  the 
other  hand,  in  the  South  American  countries, 
where  British  money  has  built  most  of  the 
railways,  the  compartment  system  is  the 
rule,  though  modifications,  combining  both 
the  American  and  the  European  plan,  are  not 
uncommon. 

Railway  rates,  both  for  passengers  and 
freight,  are  apt  to  be  very  high.  Tliis  is 
notably  true  of  the  republics  in  which  the 


184  LATIN  AMERICA 

natural  difficulties  have  made  construction 
costly.  Few  efforts  are  made  to  run  any 
of  the  trains  at  a  high  speed.  Slowness  and 
safety  are  the  watchwords,  and  in  the 
mountainous  areas  trains  seldom  run  at 
night.  Railways,  even  in  the  same  country, 
often  have  different  gauges;  but  wherever 
the  railway  system  is  extensive,  efforts  are 
constantly  being  made  to  render  the  gauge 
uniform,  so  that  difficulties  of  this  sort  may 
soon  be  obviated.  Express  companies,  work- 
ing in  connection  with  the  railways,  are  very 
rare,  outside  of  a  few  of  the  largest  cities. 

The  oldest  railway  line  in  the  northern 
group  of  republics  was  built  in  Cuba  as 
early  as  1835,  and  is,  in  fact,  the  oldest 
of  all  in  Latin  America.  Though  the  con- 
struction of  railways  began  in  Mexico 
about  1842,  the  first  line  between  the  city  of 
Mexico  and  Vera  Cruz  was  not  opened  until 
1873.  Chile  had  the  first  railway  on  the 
continent  of  South  America,  the  line  being 
built  by  an  American  in  1851.  The  Argentine 
Republic  followed  in  1857,  and  Brazil  a 
year  later. 

Not  only  railways,  but  practically  all  of 
the  modern  means  of  transportation  in 
Latin  America  were  initiated  and  constructed 
with  European  and  American  capital.  Most 
of  them,  also,  are  owned  by  foreigners. 
Outside  of  Mexico  and  a  few  of  the  other 


TRANSPORTATION  185 

republics  in  North  America,  where  American 
enterprise  has  been  foremost,  British  capital 
and,  to  a  much  smaller  extent,  money  from 
Germany  and  France  have  supplied  what 
was  needed  for  the  purpose. 

In  a  few  of  the  countries  the  respective 
governments  either  own  the  railways  out- 
right, or  keep  them  under  immediate  control. 
Mexico,  for  example,  has  striven  to  prevent 
the  absorption  of  existing  lines  by  foreign 
companies,  and  to  reorganize  and  improve 
the  system  by  purchasing  an  amount  of  stock 
sufficient  to  enable  it  to  dominate  the  man- 
agement. At  least  this  is  true  so  far  as  the 
great  trunk  lines  are  concerned.  Except 
those  in  the  nitrate  areas,  the  railways  in 
Chile  are  owned  by  the  government,  even 
if  operated  at  a  heavy  loss.  Other  countries, 
like  Brazil  and  the  Dominican  Republic, 
have  a  number  of  state  railway  lines.  Al- 
though in  the  Argentine  Republic  the  lines 
are  almost  exclusively  in  private  .hands,  the 
British  owners  of  them  are  held  in  fairly 
effective  control  by  the  government. 

Several  of  the  railway  enterprises  now  in 
operation  merit  a  brief  description.  Chile, 
for  example,  is  promoting  the  construc- 
tion of  a  "longitudinal  railway,"  stretch- 
ing from  the  Peruvian  frontier  southward 
to  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  and  covering  a 
distance  of  2,600  miles.     More  and  more  is 


186  LATIN  AMERICA 

the  conviction  growing  in  Brazil  that  the 
natural  wealth  of  the  country  cannot  be 
developed  until  the  vast  and  varied  river 
systems  have  been  adequately  linked  by 
railway  connection.  For  the  full  expansion 
of  Brazilian  industries,  therefore,  railway 
communication  is  imperative,  so  as  to  super- 
sede the  wretched  roads  across  the  low 
plateaus  and  to  turn  the  cataracts  that  bar 
access  to  the  upper  reaches  of  some  of  the 
great  navigable  affluents  of  the  Ajnazon. 
When  the  several  projects  now  under  way 
have  been  realized,  an  extensive  system  of 
railway  lines  will  open  up  the  Brazilian 
backwoods,  give  the  Andean  states,  like 
Peru  and  Bolivia,  direct  and  easy  access 
to  the  Atlantic,  and  make  the  Amazon  one  of 
the  most  important  commercial  highways  in 
the  world.  Brazil  will  then  enjoy  a  posi- 
tion of  unrivaled  value  as  the  intermediary  ■ 
of  exchange  between  central  South  America] 
and  the  rest  of  the  world. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  railway  pro-- 
jects  that  has  recently  been  carried  into 
effect  in  Brazil  is  the  line  called  the  "Madeira 
and  Mamore  Railway,'*  210  miles  in  length,? 
and  built  for  the  purpose  of  flanking  the^ 
rapids  of  the  Madeira  River.  Ocean  steam-i 
ships  reach  the  foot  of  the  rapids  at  the  north-) 
eastern  terminus  of  the  railway.  Above  the 
rapids  there  are  upwards  of  2,500  miles  of 


TRANSPORTATION  187 

navigable  waters,  serving  an  area  of  over 
475,000  square  miles  in  Bolivia  and  in  the 
huge  Brazilian  State  of  Matto  Grosso,  a 
region  of  incalculable  wealth,  which  has 
hitherto  been  practically  isolated.  Since 
Bolivia  has  built  a  railway  to  reach  the  head 
of  steamboat  navigation  on  one  of  the  tribu- 
taries of  the  Madeira  above  the  rapids, 
there  will  be  no  more  necessity  of  painfully 
climbing  over  the  Andes  at  this  point  in 
order  to  touch  tidewater.  The  work  of 
construction  has  been  carried  on  by  an  Amer- 
ican company. 

Of  the  transcontinental  lines,  the  Panama 
Railway  between  Colon  and  Panama  was 
built  in  1855  to  facilitate  the  journey  of  the 
gold  seekers  bound  for  California,  and  to 
serve  as  a  means  of  transit  until  the  long 
projected  waterway  through  the  Isthmus 
of  Panama  could  be  completed.  At  present 
there  are  three  other  transcontinental  rail- 
ways in  Latin  America,  all  of  which  have 
been  put  into  operation  in  recent  times. 
These  are  the  lines  in  Mexico  across  the 
Isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  through  Guate- 
mala, and  through  the  Argentine  Republic 
and  Chile.  The  principal  tunnel  on  the  route 
last  named  is  nearly  two  miles  long,  and  lies 
about  the  same  distance  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  No  tunnel  in  the  world,  of  so  great  a 
length,  is  situated  at  such  analtitude.  Eventu- 


188  LATIN  AMERICA 

ally  the  lines  of  these  two  South  Ameri- 
can countries,  in  connection  with  the  roads 
already  in  existence  and  in  process  of  con- 
struction, will  form  part  of  a  railway  thou- 
sands of  miles  long,  that  will  extend  from 
Valparaiso,  Chile,  on  the  Pacific,  through 
the  Argentine  Republic,  Uruguay  and  Brazil, 
clear  up  to  Pernambuco  on  the  Atlantic. 
The  most  grandiose  project  of  railway  con- 
struction in  the  New  World,  however,  is 
that  connected  with  the  building  of  the 
Inter-continental  Railway,  commonly  called 
the  "Pan-American  Railway,"  which  was 
first  broached  at  the  meeting  of  the  Pkn- 
American  Conference  at  Mexico  in  1901.  The 
plan  then  devised  was  to  have  a  trunk  line 
stretching  all  the  way  from  New  York  to 
Buenos  Ayres,  a  distance  of  about  10,000 
miles,  with  ramifications  in  every  direction. 
Existing  lines,  of  course,  were  to  be  used  for 
the  purpose,  and  other  railways  added, 
as  fast  as  they  could  be  constructed  in  the 
various  countries  traversed.  It  is  now  pos- 
sible to  go  from  New  York  by  rail  to  within 
a  few  miles  of  the  city  of  Guatemala.  From 
this  point  southward  to  Panama,  and  thence 
through  Colombia,  Ecuador  and  Peru  to 
the  shores  of  Lake  Titicaca,  there  are  nu- 
merous gaps  to  be  filled  in.  Here  the  line  will 
join  the  ones  being  pushed  rapidly  northward 
from   the  Argentine  Republic  into  Bolivia. 


TRANSPORTATION  189 

In  South  America  the  only  international 
lines  are  those  running  from  Peru,  Chile 
and  the  Argentine  Republic  into  Bolivia, 
between  Chile  and  the  Argentine  Republic, 
and  between  Uruguay  and  Brazil.  Still 
another  is  under  way  to  connect  the  Argen- 
tine Republic  with  Paraguay.  Of  these  lines, 
the  one  extending  from  Arica  on  the  Chilean 
coast  to  La  Paz  in  Bolivia,  which  has  re- 
cently been  completed,  finds  its  chief  impor- 
tance in  its  political  and  strategic  value. 
Its  twenty-eight  miles  of  rack-track  consti- 
tute the  longest  uninterrupted  stretch  of 
cog-and-wheel  construction  in  existence.  At 
its  highest  point  the  road  is  nearly  14,000  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  This,  however, 
is  about  2,000  feet  lower  than  the  altitude 
of  the  Oroya  Railway  in  Peru,  the  loftiest 
of  all  in  Latin  America,  or  indeed  of  any 
in  the  world. 

On  the  lakes  and  rivers  one  still  finds  craft 
as  primitive  as  any  of  those  in  colonial  times. 
Such,  for  example,  are  the  native  boats 
called  "caballitos"  (little  horses),  on  Lake 
Titicaca,  made  of  straw  and  propelled  by 
sails  of  woven  grass.  On  the  shallowest 
sections  of  the  rivers  are  numerous  row- 
boats  and  barges  for  the  conveyance  of 
freight  and  passengers.  River  steamers  are 
largely,  but  not  wholly,  owned  and  run  by 
foreigners,  among  whom  the  British  occupy 


190  LATIN  AMERICA 

the  foremost  place.  Many  of  the  govern- 
ments, also,  are  actively  engaged  in  the  task 
of  improving  the  internal  waterways,  chiefly 
with  European  aid.  On  the  larger  rivers  of 
the  Argentine  Republic  and  Uruguay  the 
Argentine  steamer  service  is  excellent. 

Except  in  the  case  of  small  coasting- vessels, 
Brazil  is  the  only  Latin-American  country 
that  has  steamships  of  its  own  for  oceanic 
trade  on  a  large  scale.  The  service  furnished 
by  the  British,  German,  French,  Italian, 
Dutch,  Spanish  and  other  European  lines 
plying  to  Latin-American  ports  is  extensive 
and,  in  the  main,  adequate.  Some  of  the 
vessels  running  between  the  United  States 
and  those  ports  are  owned  by  American  cor- 
porations, but  they  regularly  fly  European 
flags. 

In  the  great  majority  of  Latin-American 
harbors  the  methods  of  landing  and  embark- 
ing are  rather  primitive.  Owing  to  the  lack 
of  wharves,  the  steamers  have  to  anchor  at 
some  distance  ojff  shore.  Passengers  and 
luggage,  ordinarily,  are  transferred  in  row- 
boats,  and  articles  of  freight  in  barges  rowed 
with  long  sweeps.  Sometimes  when  the 
weather  is  too  stormy  to  allow  the  use  of 
rowboats,  the  vessels  approach  as  near  as 
they  can  to  the  long  iron  jetty,  which  in 
many  places  serves  as  a  wharf,  and  the 
passengers  are  loaded  into  a  sort  of  basket 


TRANSPORTATION  191 

attached  to  a  crane,  and  thus  swung 
ashore. 

An  improvement  in  the  mail  and  passen- 
ger service  between  the  United  States  and  the 
countries  of  South  America  is  very  much  to 
be  desired.  With  the  completion  of  the  Pan- 
ama Canal  many  of  the  obstacles  will  be 
removed.  Transversely,  between  the  Atlan- 
tic coast  of  the  United  States  and  the  Pacific 
coast  of  South  America,  and  the  Pacific 
coast  of  the  former  and  the  Atlantic  coast 
of  the  latter,  the  distance  will  be  greatly 
shortened,  the  cost  of  transportation  low- 
ered and  an  era  of  commercial  relationship 
in  general  established  closer  than  has  pre- 
vailed hitherto. 

Practically  throughout  the  republics  of 
Latin  America  the  telegraph  service  is  either 
owned,  or  directly  controlled,  by  the  govern- 
ment. Wireless  telegraphy  has  been  in- 
stalled in  many  of  them.  Telephone  com- 
munication, as  a  rule,  is  in  private  hands  and 
managed  by  foreigners.  Uruguay,  however, 
has  entered  upon  a  process  of  nationalizing, 
not  only  the  telephone  and  telegraph  ser- 
vice, but  other  facilities  of  a  more  or  less 
public  character. 


102  LATIN  AMERICA 

CHAPTER    XVI 

EDUCATION 

Almost  everywhere  in  the  republics  of 
Latin  America  a  marked  contrast  exists 
between  the  highly  cultured  few  and  the 
poorly  educated,  or  illiterate,  many.  The 
intellectual  men  and  women,  who  are  to  be 
met  with  in  the  cities  of  importance,  are 
comparable  with  the  best  of  their  class  in 
Europe  and  the  United  States.  They 
have  traveled  abroad,  they  commonly  speak 
several  languages,  usually  French  and  often 
English,  in  addition  to  their  own  native 
Spanish  or  Portuguese;  and  they  are  versed 
in  all  of  the  accomplishments  that  a  refined 
society  would  demand.  They  are  familiar, 
also,  with  the  world 's  progress  in  the  arts  and 
sciences,  and  in  many  cases  they  possess  fine 
private  libraries  and  art  collections. 

The  number  of  persons  in  the  various 
states  who  cannot  read  or  write  ranges  ap- 
proximately from  thirty  per  cent  to  ninety 
per  cent  of  the  total  population,  though 
reliable  statistics  about  the  matter,  as  a 
rule,  are  very  hard  to  obtain.  Great  as  the 
contrast  may  be,  even  in  some  of  the  ad- 
vanced republics,  between  the  cultured  few 
at  the  top  and  the  ignorant  many  at  the 
bottom,  it  is  gradually  disappearing. 


EDUCATION  193 

In  proportion  as  the  development  of  their 
natural  resources  has  enabled  any  of  the 
Latin-American  countries  to  make  material 
progress  in  a  relatively  high  degree,  its  ideas 
about  the  necessity  of  spreading  education 
among  the  masses  have  become  correspond- 
ingly broadened.  Enlightened  and  public- 
spirited  men  are  coming  to  realize  more  and 
more  fully  that  the  first  essential  of  de- 
mocracy is  that  all  of  the  people  should  be 
educated. 

Anyone  who  has  watched  closely  the 
changes  that  have  occurred  in  many  of  the 
Latin-American  republics  during  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century,  and  in  a  few  cases  dur- 
ing a  still  longer  period,  sees  how  widely 
diffused  modern  ideas  and  methods  of  edu- 
cation have  become.  The  number  of  schools, 
especially  those  for  primary  instruction,  has 
increased  enormously.  New  universities 
have  been  created,  and  earnest  efforts  have 
been  made  to  reach  out  to  the  classes  for- 
merly excluded  from  intellectual  benefits. 
Night  schools  and  other  institutions  of  the 
sort  have  been  introduced,  and  educational 
matters  in  general  have  been  given  much  of 
the  public  interest  that  they  deserve. 

German,  French  and  American  teachers 
have  come  under  government  contract  to 
make  their  influence  felt  far  and  wide. 
The  German  and  the  French  teachers  have 


194  LATIN  AMERICA 

devoted  themselves,  more  especially,  to 
scientific  and  technical  instruction.  Models, 
specimens,  maps,  charts,  pictures  and  the 
like,  used  in  the  schools,  are  commonly 
of  German  origin.  Americans  have  had  a 
considerable  share  in  promoting  the  develop- 
ment of  training-schools  for  teachers,  and 
have  aided  the  course  of  improvement  in 
primary  and  technical  instruction  as  well. 
In  several  countries  of  Central  America  the 
study  of  English  is  prescribed  for  the  primary 
schools,  and  in  nearly  all  of  the  republics 
of  Latin  America  at  large  it  forms  an  impor- 
tant part  of  the  curriculum  in  the  high 
schools. 

Especial  efforts  have  been  made  to  pro- 
duce professional  teachers  and  to  give  them 
proper  salaries.  Commissioners  have  been 
sent  to  visit  European  countries  and  the 
United  States,  in  order  to  study  their  edu- 
cational systems.  Students,  also,  have  been 
enabled,  through  the  enjoyment  of  govern- 
ment stipends,  to  attend  educational  insti- 
tutions there,  as  a  means  of  assuring  for 
their  careers  a  greater  usefulness  to  their 
fellow-countrymen. 

All  of  these  manifestations  of  progress 
have  come  substantially  from  the  increased 
expenditure  of  the  governments  themselves. 
To  a  very  slight  extent  only  have  they  been 
promoted  through  occasional  contributions 


EDUCATION  195 

by  private  individuals.  On  this  point  it 
might  be  said  that  rich  men  and  women  in 
Latin  America  seldom  give  or  bequeath 
money  for  educational  purposes,  their  dona- 
tions going  rather  to  religious  and  chari- 
table bodies. 

The  modern  ideas  and  methods  of  educa- 
tion, of  course,  are  to  be  seen  to  most  ad- 
vantage in  the  larger  cities  of  such  states  as 
Uruguay,  the  Argentine  Republic,  Chile, 
Brazil,  Costa  Rica,  Cuba  and  Mexico,  and 
to  a  smaller  degree  in  Peru  and  Bolivia. 
Here  the  schools  are  fairly  numerous,  often 
efficiently  conducted  and  quite  well  supplied 
with  many  of  the  materials  that  modern 
pedagogy  demands  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
struction. Here,  also,  the  program  of 
studies  and  the  manner  of  carrying  on  the 
work  in  the  classroom  are  commonly 
based  on  French,  German  or  American 
models.  It  is  the  proud  boast  of  Costa 
Rica,  for  example,  that  it  has  more  school- 
teachers than  soldiers,  and  that  about  one 
eighth  of  its  annual  budget  is  devoted  to  the 
education  of  the  people. 

Naturally  the  kind  of  education  afforded 
in  the  larger  cities  is  everywhere  far  better 
than  it  is  in  the  provincial  towns  or  in 
the  remoter  districts  of  the  country,  where 
the  facilities  and  conveniences  of  instruction, 
even  in  the  more  progressive  republics,  are 


196  LATIN  AMERICA 

apt  to  be  poor,  or  non-existent,  and  where  the 
degree  of  ignorance  often  is  dense.  Several 
of  the  countries,  however,  are  making  earn- 
est efforts  to  raise  the  mental  standard  of  the 
less  favored  races.  When  other  means  are 
not  available,  missionary  schools,  supported 
by  the  government,  have  been  set  up.  So 
as  to  induce  the  let:s  tractable  Indians  to  live 
nearer  the  centers  of  civilized  life,  concessions 
of  land  are  offered  them,  along  with  a  prom- 
ise of  assistance  in  the  shape  of  tools,  stock 
and  seed. 

While  much  excellent  work  has  been  done, 
much  still  remains  to  be  accomplished  be- 
fore the  primary  and  secondary  school 
systems  in  particular  can  attain  a  proper 
level  of  usefulness  to  the  community. 
Instead  of  permanent  school  funds,  appro- 
priations voted  annually  by  the  legisla- 
ture are  now  the  rule.  The  supply  of 
suitable  textbooks  and  other  educational 
material  is  frequently  insufficient.  Too 
small  a  number  of  the  schools,  also,  possess 
libraries  of  their  own. 

In  the  republics  of  Latin  America,  as  in 
other  parts  of  the  world,  the  complaint 
is  heard  that  education  is  not  practically 
adapted  to  the  conditions  of  actual  life;  that 
it  does  not  produce  the  kind  of  citizens  re- 
quired to  bring  wealth  out  of  the  soil,  break 
with  ancient  prejudices  and  carry  on  the 


EDUCATION  197 

processes  of  national  development  to  the 
highest  point.  Except  where  commercial 
courses  are  given,  there  is  a  marked  tendency 
to  impose  the  same  branches  of  study  on 
every  pupil,  irrespective  of  tastes  and  ap- 
titudes, or  of  future  vocation.  The  needs 
of  technical,  industrial  and  commercial 
education,  therefore,  are  not  suflBciently 
considered. 

Latin-American  educators  are  pointing 
out  that,  because  of  inherited  qualities 
of  slowness  of  evolution  in  various  respects, 
and  chiefly  because  of  a  poor  system  of 
instruction,  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of 
their  respective  countries  lack  as  yet  the 
mental  equipment  needed  for  economic 
efficiency.  To  meet  this  situation,  they  are 
urging  the  adoption  of  educational  methods 
that  will  convert  inclinations  for  a  professional 
or  military  career  into  a  genuine  aptitude 
for  industrial  occupations.  They  feel,  also, 
that  in  various  ways  the  entrance  of  foreign 
ideas  and  usages  is  threatening  the  growth  of 
nationality,  and  even  leading  to  a  deca- 
dence of  national  spirit.  Accordingly,  in 
order  to  offset  any  hurtful  influence  from  this 
quarter,  education  ought  to  be  made  more 
strictly  utilitarian  in  its  aims  and  processes. 

What  are  called  "Schools  of  Arts  and 
Trades"  have  long  since  been  established, 
but  the  prevailing  opinion  is  that  these  are 


198  LATIN  AMERICA 

not  altogether  suited  to  modern  requirements. 
They  must  be  supplemented  by  distinctly 
vocational  schools,  where  young  men  and 
women,  especially  those  of  the  growing 
middle  class,  can  receive  training  for  various 
occupations,  in  addition  merely  to  trades 
as  such.  The  result  is  that  almost  every- 
where in  the  larger  cities  the  number  of 
"professional"  schools  and  institutions  is 
steadily  increasing. 

Outside  of  the  more  advanced  countries 
of  Latin  America,  co-education  beyond  the 
kindergarten  stage  is  rare,  and  even  in  the 
case  of  the  republics  of  that  sort  the  prac- 
tice is  not  common.  Though  several  of  the 
states  admit  women  to  the  universities,  the 
opportunity  thus  afforded  for  higher  educa- 
tion does  not  appear  to  be  utilized  very  much, 
except  perhaps  in  Uruguay. 

Public  instruction  in  the  Latin-American 
states  is  either  controlled  by  the  general 
government,  or  is  carried  on  with  its  cooper- 
ation, or  under  its  supervision.  The  na- 
tional government,  also,  represents  the  educa- 
tional system  of  the  country  for  all  foreign 
purposes.  The  various  educational  institu- 
tions are  regularly  subject  to  the  control 
of  tlie  Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  except 
that  in  the  states  where  a  federal  form  of  gov- 
ernment exists  the  administration  of  pri- 
mary and  secondary  schools  is  more  or  less 


EDUCATION  190 

divided  between  the  national  and  the  local 
authorities.  Politics,  of  course,  plays  some 
part  in  the  arrangement  of  the  programs  of 
study  and  in  the  selection  of  teachers, 
but  on  the  whole  its  influence  does  not  appear 
to  be  serious. 

Non-official  activities  of  an  educational 
sort  are  numerous,  especially  in  the  coun- 
tries where  public  instruction  has  received  a 
considerable  amount  of  recognition.  Teach- 
ers' associations  have  been  formed,  con- 
gresses held  and  publications  issued,  which 
have  greatly  increased  the  consciousness 
of  a  solidarity  of  interest  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  teaching  profession,  and  have  con- 
tributed similarly  to  a  knowledge  and  ap- 
plication of  modern  methods  of  education. 

Everywhere  primary  instruction  is  free, 
and,  if  the  parents  of  the  children  are  too 
poor  to  pay  for  school  supplies,  provision 
is  commonly  made  for  furnishing  them  free 
of  charge.  Religious  instruction  in  the 
public  schools  is  prohibited  by  a  few  of  the 
republics;  but,  except  in  a  few  others,  it  is 
not  imparted  in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce 
the  impression  that  the  ecclesiastical  influence 
is  dominant.  Quite  on  the  contrary,  secular 
instruction  is  expressly  called  for  in  most 
cases.  In  the  great  majority  of  the  republics, 
also,  the  law  makes  attendance  at  the  prim- 
ary  schools    compulsory   up    to    a   certain 


«00  LATIN  AMERICA 

age,  although  this  requirement  is  seldom 
enforced  in  every  section  of  the  country, 
and  often  it  is  not  enforced  at  all. 

In  view  of  the  rapid  spread  of  education 
and  the  consequent  demand  for  teachers, 
the  number  of  training-schools  has  not  in- 
creased proportionately.  Yet  wherever  they 
are  established,  due  provision  appears  to  be 
made  for  assuring  to  the  future  teachers 
opportunities  for  observation  and  practice. 
In  some  cases  the  pupils  are  given  their 
board  and  clothing,  in  return  for  an  agree- 
ment that  they  will  teach  in  the  schools 
of  the  country  for  a  certain  period  of  time. 

Except,  perhaps,  for  a  few  institutions 
founded  and  controlled  by  foreigners,  there 
are  no  "colleges"  in  Latin  America  in  the 
sense  in  which  that  term  is  used  in  England 
and  the  United  States.  All  of  the  republics 
have  at  least  one  university,  or  a  number  of 
technical  and  professional  establishments 
of  university  grade.  Occasionally,  as  in 
Bolivia,  the  word  "  universidad "  may  refer 
to  the  general  system  of  educational  admin- 
istration in  a  particular  area,  and  not  neces- 
sarily to  a  university  as  such.  Most 
of  the  universities  and  other  institutions 
of  higher  learning  are  controlled  by  the  state; 
but  they  are  commonly  allowed  to  possess 
property  of  their  own,  and  to  enjoy  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  independence. 


EDUCATION  201 

Among  the  leading  institutions  for  higher 
education  are  the  National  Universities  of 
Buenos  Ayres  and  La  Plata  in  the  Argentine 
Republic;  the  professional  and  technical 
establishments  in  Brazil,  like  the  Polytech- 
nic School  at  Rio  de  Janeiro;  the  University 
of  Chile,  at  Santiago;  the  University  of  the 
Republic,  at  Montevideo,  Uruguay;  the 
Mexican  National  University  recently 
founded  at  the  city  of  Mexico;  the  Uni- 
versity of  Havana,  Cuba;  the  Greater 
University  of  St.  Mark,  at  Lima,  Peru; 
the  Central  University  at  Caracas,  Vene- 
zuela, and  the  National  University  at  Bogota. 
A  few  of  the  institutions,  as  for  example 
the  Greater  University  of  St.  Mark,  date 
from  colonial  times,  and  the  Mexican  Na- 
tional University  is  the  successor  of  the 
old  Royal  and  Pontifical  University  of  St. 
Paul. 

Professional  titles  of  every  description 
are  granted  only  by  the  state.  Brazil, 
however,  took  the  radical  step,  in  1911,  of 
abolishing  academic  titles  altogether,  and 
of  furnishing  instead  certificates  of  pro- 
ficiency. The  reason  given  was  that  schol- 
astic degrees  are  unsuited  to  a  democratic 
society.  By  lessening  the  number  of  "doc- 
tors," and  by  discouraging  aspirants  to 
academic  honors  of  the  sort,  Brazil  hopes 
to  divert  the  youthful  intellect  and  energy 


202  LATIN  AMERICA 

of  the  country  from  professional  careers 
into  channels  of  industrial  usefulness. 

Latin-American  universities  are  organized 
after  the  European  fashion  in  more  or  less 
separate  faculties;  and  in  the  advanced 
republics,  they  commonly  include  a  num- 
ber of  technical  schools  as  well.  In  numerous 
instances  tliey  are  equipped  with  corps  of 
able  professors,  many  of  whom  have  studied 
abroad.  As  is  frequently  true  of  those 
giving  instruction  in  secondary  schools,  and 
even  in  the  primary  schools,  the  university 
instructors  are  not  usually  teachers  by 
profession.  They  are  primarily  practicing 
lawyers,  physicians  and  engineers,  or  are 
actively  engaged  in  some  other  occupation. 
They  receive  their  appointment  from  the 
president  through  the  Minister  of  Public 
Instruction,  and  are  selected  out  of  a  list 
of  eligible  candidates  submitted  by  the 
faculty  concerned. 

Uruguay  is  about  the  only  republic  that 
has  endeavored  to  establish  a  body  of  uni- 
versity professors  who  are  to  devote  their 
entire  attention  to  teaching,  and  become 
expert  and  productive  in  their  particular 
fields  of  research.  This  change  is  to  be 
effected  in  some  measure  by  assuring  to  the 
incumbents  of  the  professorships  a  salary 
more  adequate  than  that  furnished  by  the 
separate  *'c4tedras,"  or  chairs  of  instruction. 


EDUCATION  20S 

Throughout  the  Latin-American  univer- 
sities in  general,  law,  medicine  and  en- 
gineering are  the  courses  of  study  which  at- 
tract the  largest  number  of  students;  but  the 
impulse  to  take  up  other  branches  of  learn- 
ing, especially  those  having  to  do  with  the 
wider  processes  of  industry,  is  becoming 
noticeable  in  the  distinctly  progressive  re- 
publics. Pharmacy  and  dentistry  regularly 
form  part  of  the  curriculum  in  the  schools 
of  medicine.  In  addition  to  their  purely 
technical  or  professional  phases,  these  three 
principal  courses  of  study  are  commonly 
made  to  include  a  liberal  education,  on  the 
order  of  that  furnished  by  the  colleges  of 
England  and  the  United  States.  In  the 
scientific  departments  the  apparatus  used 
is  imported  largely  from  Europe,  and  from 
Germany  and  France  in  particular.  The 
system  of  university  extension  and  of  free 
public  lectures,  also,  has  been  introduced 
into  a  few  of  the  more  important  cities. 

As  a  rule  the  students  are  admitted  to  the 
university  from  the  secondary  schools  with- 
out entrance  examinations.  What  in  Eng- 
lish-speaking countries  is  called  "college 
life"  is  conspicuously  absent  among  them; 
or  else  student  activities  assume  some  other 
form.  Fraternities,  athletic  associations  and 
contests,  debating  clubs,  musical  and  drama- 
tic societies,  college  journalism  and  the  like. 


204  LATIN  AMERICA 

are  practically  unknown.  Political  interests, 
instead,  are  often  made  the  subject  for  dis- 
cussion or  manifestation. 

There  is  one  activity,  at  least,  among  the 
students  in  the  Latin-American  universities 
which  merits  a  word  of  description.  In 
several  of  the  institutions  of  higher  learning 
the  practice  has  recently  arisen  of  forming 
student  associations  and  of  holding  inter- 
national student  congresses.  These  asso- 
ciations are  open  to  all  members  of  the  stu- 
dent body,  and  in  the  larger  institutions  there 
is  a  separate  organization  for  each  school 
or  faculty,  all  of  them  being  grouped  into  a 
university  league.  The  international  student 
congresses  are  unique  of  their  kind.  Con- 
voked chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  creating  a 
wide  sympathy  among  university  men,  the 
discussions  and  conferences  held,  relating 
to  problems  of  interest  to  students,  within 
and  without  the  academic  walls,  are  often 
of  much  value. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

PUBLIC   CHARITY   AND    SOCIAL   SERVICE 

As  in  other  countries  of  the  world,  so  in 
the  republics  of  Latin  America,  most  of 
the  hospitals,  poorhouses,  asylums,  re- 
formatories, day  nurseries  and  similar  pub- 


PUBLIC  CHARITY  205 

lie  institutions  for  the  relief  of  suffering  and 
misfortune  are  maintained  either  by  the 
national  government  or  by  the  municipalities. 
Those  in  tiie  larger  cities,  as  a  rule,  are  ex- 
cellently equipped  and  managed. 

The  funds  used  for  the  maintenance  of  public 
charities  come  from  various  sources.  These 
include  grants  from  the  national  government 
and  the  municipalities,  a  certain  percentage 
of  judicial  fines,  part  of  the  proceeds  from 
lotteries,  the  revenues  from  properties  be- 
longing to  the  institutions  concerned,  and 
gifts  and  bequests  of  a  private  character. 

As  agencies  for  the  encouragement  of 
thrift  on  the  part  of  the  poorer  classes, 
savings-banks  are  much  less  common  than 
the  so-called  "Monte  Pi'o,"  a  species  of 
fund  for  the  benefit  of  widows  and  orphans, 
and  the  "Monte  de  Piedad,"  a  kind  of 
national  pawnshop  conducted  by  the  gov- 
ernment. Of  institutions  of  the  latter  sort 
the  most  remarkable,  perhaps,  is  the  one  in 
the  city  of  Mexico,  founded  by  private 
generosity  while  Spain  was  still  ruling  in 
America. 

As  might  be  expected  in  countries 
where  the  giving  of  alms  is  a  religious 
duty,  there  are  many  religious  bodies, 
"friendly  societies"  and  similar  organiza- 
tions engaged  in  the  dispensing  of  charity. 
Women  are  especially  conspicuous   in   the 


206  LATIN  AMERICA 

performance  of  public  service  of  this  kind 
in  cases  where  members  of  their  own  sex 
or  where  children  are  concerned.  A  very 
large  number  of  charitable  institutions, 
in  fact,  are  managed  by  boards  of  promi- 
nent men  and  women  who  serve  without  com- 
pensation. 

These  private  boards  of  benevolence  seem 
to  employ  the  funds  in  their  possession 
wisely,  and  to  discharge  their  duties  effi- 
ciently. The  institutions  under  their  charge 
are  kept  clean  and  healthful,  and  the  in- 
mates of  them  rendered  as  comfortable  and 
contented  as  reason  might  demand.  At  least 
this  is  generally  true  of  the  institutions 
in  the  larger  cities,  whatever  may  be  said 
of  the  conditions  prevailing  at  times  in  the 
provincial  towns  and  in  the  country  districts. 

The  field  of  benevolent  societies  in  Latin 
America,  many  of  which  are  survivals  from 
the  colonial  period,  is  usually  broader  than 
that  of  similar  associations  in  other  parts  of 
the  world.  They  often  promote  measures  of 
relief  which  elsewhere  are  provided  by  the 
national  or  municipal  governments.  From 
these  sources,  also,  they  receive  standing 
and  financial  support.  Organizations  like 
the  "Society  of  Beneficence,"  "Ladies  of 
Charity"  and  "Ladies  of  Mercy"  in  Buenos 
Ayres,  for  example,   do  admirable  work. 

Societies   or    institutes   of    social   service 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  207 

have  begun  to  appear  in  a  few  of  the  larger 
cities,  and  to  exert  some  measure  of  in- 
fluence on  the  respective  national  or  munici- 
pal governments,  looking  to  a  more  effec- 
tive promotion  of  social  welfare.  In  sev- 
eral of  the  advanced  republics  efforts  have 
been  made  to  improve  the  lot  of  the  working 
classes,  and  to  help  delinquents.  These 
efforts  include  the  determining  of  the  legal 
responsibility  of  employers  for  accidents 
to  workmen,  the  regulation  of  labor  per- 
formed by  women  and  children,  reform 
in  the  treatment  of  juvenile  offenders,  and 
plans  fol"  aiding  discharged  prisoners  to 
make  an  honest  living. 

Some  steps,  also,  have  been  taken  in  the 
direction  of  discouraging  alcoholism  and  of 
providing  better  conditions  of  existence  for 
the  poorer  classes  in  the  crowded  sections 
of  large  cities.  As  Uruguay,  the  Argentine 
Republic  and  Brazil  have  been  foremost  in 
the  enactment  of  the  measures  already  de- 
scribed, so  these  countries  and  others,  like 
Chile  and  Cuba,  have  provided  for  the  erec- 
tion in  their  capital  cities,  and  to  some 
extent  elsewhere,  of  model  tenements  or 
other  houses  for  working  people.  The  gov- 
ernment of  Brazil,  for  instance,  provides 
building  sites  whenever  possible,  exempts 
material  for  use  in  construction  from  the 
payment  of  import  duties,  and  authorizes 


208  LATIN  AMERICA 

the  municipality  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  to  waive 
construction  taxes.  It  provides,  furthermore, 
that  the  amount  of  rent  to  be  collected  from 
the  tenants  shall  be  determined  in  accor- 
dance with  a  certain  percentage  of  their 
earnings,  and  loans  building  companies  funds 
for  the  several  purposes  mentioned. 

Additional  evidence  of  the  growing  in- 
terest in  social  service  is  furnished  by  the 
establishment  in  Buenos  Ayres  of  the  "Ar- 
gentine Social  Museum,"  an  institution 
engaged  in  the  study  of  the  general  prob- 
lems of  city  and  country,  and  in  the  promo- 
tion of  suitable  legislation.  To  these  ends 
it  issues  various  publications,  maintains  a 
bureau  of  consultation  and  conducts  lecture 
courses.  Leagues  against  the  spread  of 
tuberculosis,  also,  are  becoming  numerous, 
and  in  some  cases  are  given  active  support 
by  the  respective  governments.  Brazil, 
for  example,  admits  free  of  duty  drugs  and 
instruments  for  the  use  of  such  associations, 
and  grants  them  the  freedom  of  the  mails. 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

SCIENCE 

When  one  considers  the  notions  that  are 
all  too  prevalent  about  the  countries  of 
Latin  America  in  general,  it  may  seem  diffi- 


SCIENCE  209 

cult  to  realize  that  in  each  republic,  depend- 
ing in  some  measure,  of  course,  on  the  degree 
of  its  material  advancement,  there  is  to  be 
found  a  body  of  men  who  are  earnestly 
striving  to  solve  scientific  problems  and  to 
make  the  results  of  their  investigations 
known.  Even  if  little  more  than  the  titles 
of  some  of  the  learned  societies  and  similar 
organizations  for  the  promotion  of  science 
are  given,  they  will  suffice  to  furnish  an 
idea  of  how  widely  diffused  scientific  ac- 
tivities in  Latin  America  are. 

Buenos  Ayres  is  the  seat  of  the  "Argentine 
Scientific  Society, "  and  Rio  de  Janeiro  that 
of  the  "Syllogeo  Brazileiro,"  an  organi- 
zation comprising  the  "National  Academy 
of  Medicine,'*  the  "Institute  of  the  Order 
of  Lawyers"  and  the  "Academy  of  Letters.'* 
Mexico  has  a  "National  Academy  of  Science'* 
and  Caracas  an  "Academy  of  Social  Sciences 
and  Belles  Lettres."  Atheneums  for  the 
holding  of  lectures  and  discussions  on  cur- 
rent problems,  and  for  the  cultivation  of 
scientific,  literary  and  artistic  interests,  are 
found  in  cities  like  Buenos  Ayres,  Monte- 
video,  San   Jose    (Costa   Rica)    and  Lima. 

Legal  studies  are  represented,  for  example, 
by  the  "Academy  of  Law  and  Jurispru- 
dence," in  Mexico,  the  membership  of  which 
includes  the  most  prominent  lawyers  and 
statesmen  of  the  country.     Medicine  and 


210  LATIN  AMERICA 

surgery  are  promoted  by  the  work  of  such 
organizations  as  the  "Argentine  Medical 
Society"  and  the  "National  Medical  In- 
stitute" of  Mexico.  The  latter  body,  also, 
gives  considerable  attention,  among  other 
things,  to  the  study  of  Mexican  fauna  and 
flora. 

In  countries  where  mining  is  the  great 
industry,  societies  for  its  development  are 
numerous  and  active.  The  "National  Geo- 
logical Institute"  of  Mexico,  equipped  with 
excellent  museums,  laboratories  and  other 
facilities  for  practical  work,  conducts  valu- 
able investigations  of  the  country's  re- 
sources. Peru  has  a  "Corps  of  Mining 
Engineers,"  which  has  contributed  effec- 
tively to  the  exploration  of  the  mining  dis- 
tricts and  to  the  description  of  geological 
formations. 

Societies,  institutes  and  academies  for  the 
study  of  geography,  history  and  statistics 
are  quite  as  common  as  those  devoted  to 
other  branches  of  learning.  Among  them 
may  be  mentioned  the  "Geographical  In- 
stitute," at  Buenos  Ayres;  the  "National 
Geographical  Society,"  at  Lima;  the  "Phys- 
ical and  Geographical  Institute,  at  San 
Jose  (Costa  Rica);  the  "Historical  and  Geo- 
graphical Institute  of  Brazil,"  at  Rio  de 
Janeiro;  the  "Geographical  and  Statistical 
Society,"  at  Mexico;  and  the  national  acad- 


SCIENCE  211 

emies  of  history  in  Venezuela,  Colombia 
and  Cuba. 

Most  of  these  learned  societies  publish 
numerous  books  and  pamphlets  illustrative 
of  the  scientific  researches  carried  on  under 
their  direction.  Their  libraries,  museums 
and  varied  collections  are  utilized  freely 
by  governmelits  and  private  individuals; 
and  their  activities  in  general  contribute 
very  appreciably  to  the  intellectual  and 
material  progress  of  their  respective  coun- 
tries. 

National  and  international  congresses  for 
the  discussion  of  problems  connected  with  the 
study  of  law  and  medicine  are  frequently 
held.  Since  the  close  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  however,  intellectual  cooperation 
of  an  international  sort  has  taken  the  form 
of  a  series  of  scientific  congresses  in  which 
the  program  has  been  far  more  compre- 
hensive in  scope.  At  the  session  of  the 
fourth  Latin-American  Scientific  Congress, 
held  at  Santiago,  Chile,  in  1908,  the  United 
States,  also,  was  represented;  and,  to  signal- 
ize the  entrance  of  that  country  into  intellec- 
tual fellowship  with  the  other  twenty  na- 
tions of  the  New  World,  the  name  of  the 
assemblage  was  changed  to  "Pan-American 
Scientific  Congress. " 

The  scientific  subject  for  which  the  Latin 
Americans  have  especial  fondness,  and  in 


212  LATIN  AMERICA 

which  many  of  them  excel,  is  international 
law.  Explanations  of  this  preference  are 
not  difficult  to  find.  Partly  temperamental 
and  partly  historical,  the  reasons  for  it  lie 
deep  in  the  processes  that  have  attended  the 
course  of  national  development  in  the  coun- 
tries of  Latin  America.  Boundary  disputes 
have  had  some  influence;  but  the  chief 
impulse  has  come  from  the  great  number  of 
problems  associated  with  the  introduction 
of  foreign  capital  and  immigration.  Many 
treatises,  accordingly,  have  been  written 
by  Latin  Americans  on  the  aspects  of  in- 
ternational law  relating  to  conditions  in 
the  various  republics.  A  congress  of  jurists, 
also,  held  at  Rio  de  Janeiro,  in  1912,  made 
considerable  progress  toward  fixing  the  bases 
of  a  future  codification  of  the  law  of  nations, 
more  especially  in  its  Latin-American  bear- 
ings. 

Astronomical  observatories  and  meteoro- 
logical stations  are  numerous  in  Latin 
America,  particularly  in  the  capital  cities. 
Of  these  probably  the  best  equipped  are 
the  one  connected  with  the  University  of 
La  Plata,  in  the  Argentine  Republic,  and  the 
National  Observatory,  near  the  city  of  Mex- 
ico. Both  are  in  close  communication  with 
similar  establishments  abroad  and  with 
foreign  scientific  bodies. 

Practically    all    of    the    Latin-American 


SCIENCE  21S 

*  countries  have  a  national  museum  of  some 
kind  for  the  display  of  objects  relating  to 
natural  history,  or  to  historic  events  and 
personages.  Among  the  most  noteworthy 
of  them  are  the  institutions  in  the  cities  of 
Mexico,  La  Plata,  Buenos  Ayres,  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  Santiago  (Chile),  San  Jose,  La  Paz 
and  Lima,  and  the  Goeldi  Museum  at  Para, 
Brazil.  Nearly  all  of  them  issue  publications, 
and  are  otherwise  active  in  the  advancement 
of  science.  In  several  cases  their  collections 
were  brought  together  under  the  direction 
of  French  or  German  scholars. 

The  National  Museum  of  Mexico,  one  of 
the  earliest  to  be  founded  in  Latin  America, 
is  famous  for  its  local  antiquities.  The 
Museum  of  La  Plata,  which  was  originally 
established  as  an  official  center  of  research 
on  the  model  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution 
at  Washington,  has  since  come  to  form  part 
of  the  equipment  of  the  university  of  that 
name.  It  is  said  to  contain  the  largest  col- 
lection of  American  fossils  in  existence. 
The  National  Museum  at  Rio  de  Janeiro 
is  particularly  valuable  for  its  assortment 
of  minerals,  and  of  objects  illustrating  the 
life  of  the  various  native  peoples  who  in- 
habit, or  have  inhabited,  the  huge  area  of 
Brazil.  An  excellent  collection  of  pottery 
is  housed  in  the  institution  at  San  Jose. 
The  Goeldi  Museum  at  Para  is  devoted  to 


214  LATIN  AMERICA 

the  exhibition  of  objects  characteristic  of  the 
region  of  the  Amazon. 

Among  the  botanical  gardens  in  Latin 
America,  the  one  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  deser- 
vedly enjoys  the  greatest  reputation.  Cover- 
ing an  area  of  nearly  2,000  acres,  it  contains 
upwards  of  60,000  specimens  of  vegetation 
from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  especially 
from  Brazil  itself. 

A  few  zoological  gardens,  also,  are  found. 
The  finest  of  them  is  located  at  Buenos  Ayres. 
Its  grounds  are  tastefully  laid  out,  and  the 
arrangements  for  the  convenience  and  plea- 
sure of  the  human  visitor  are  no  less  effec- 
tive than  those  for  the  comfort  of  its  bird, 
beast  and  reptile  occupants.  Rio  de  Ja- 
neiro is  about  the  only  Latin-American  city 
that  has  an  aquarium  of  any  importance. 

As  might  be  supposed  from  the  descrip- 
tion already  given  of  the  aborigines  in  co- 
lonial times,  Mexico,  Guatemala,  Honduras, 
Peru,  Bolivia  and  Ecuador  are  the  great  rest- 
ing-places of  archaeological  remains.  The 
ruins  existing  in  these  countries  comprise 
such  structures  as  pyramids,  tombs,  palaces, 
temples  and  fortresses.  Some  of  them  are 
built  of  adobe,  others  of  blocks  of  hewn  and 
unhewn  stone,  often  of  a  prodigious  size  and 
weight.  Many  of  the  monuments,  particu- 
larly in  Mexico,  Guatemala  and  Bolivia,  are 
elaborately  carved   with  representations  of 


JOURNALISM  815 

human  and  animal  figures  and  with  sym- 
bolic devices,  often  accompanied  by  explana- 
tory texts  that  still  await  decipherment. 

Mexico,  rightly  called  the  "Egypt  of 
America,"  both  for  the  intrinsic  worth  of 
its  treasures  and  for  the  curious  resemblance 
they  bear  to  the  antiquities  of  the  Nile 
country,  is  to-day  the  chief  center  of  archae- 
ological research  in  the  New  World.  The 
fact  has  been  recognized  by  the  recent  es- 
tablishment in  the  city  of  Mexico  of  an 
"International  School  of  American  Archae- 
ology and  Ethnology,"  under  the  auspices 
of  several  universities  of  the  United  States 
and  of  the  respective  governments  of  France 
and  Prussia,  acting  in  cooperation  with  that 
of  the  republic  of  Mexico  itself. 

CHAPTER  XIX 

JOURNALISM 

Every  one  of  the  Latin-American  repub- 
lics has  a  number  of  newspapers  and  other 
periodicals  proportionate  in  quantity  and 
quality  to  its  stage  of  material  progress. 
In  the  relatively  backward  states  these 
journals  are  apt  to  be  crude  in  make-up, 
and  often  in  ideas  as  well.  They  consist 
commonly  of  four  pages,  badly  printed  on  a 
poor  quality  of  paper.    The  news  they  offer 


216  LATIN  AMERICA 

is  scanty,  and  filtered  through  other  Latin- 
American  sheets.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
some  of  the  more  advanced  countries,  par- 
ticularly in  those  of  southern  and  eastern 
South  America,  the  newspapers  have  attained 
a  degree  of  development  that  is  quite  as- 
tounding. 

In  their  general  appearance,  and  in  the 
arrangement  of  their  reading  matter  and 
advertisements,  the  leading  newspapers  of 
Mexico  resemble  those  of  the  United  States; 
whereas  in  the  republics  of  South  America 
they  resemble  rather  their  contemporaries 
in  London  or  Paris.  The  newspapers  of  the 
Central-American  countries  are  more  like 
those  of  Spain.  Starting  with  four  pages 
in  the  smaller  republics,  the  dailies  range 
through  eight  or  ten  pages,  with  special  sheets 
or  parts  on  Sunday,  as  in  Mexico,  up  to 
thirty-two  pages  or  more  at  times,  as  in  the 
Argentine  Republic  and  Brazil.  Here  as 
many  as  sixteen  pages  may  be  given  over  to 
advertising  alone.  In  treatment,  the  Latin- 
Ajnerican  newspapers  are  disposed  to  imi- 
tate French,  Spanish  or  Portuguese  methods. 

When  writing  news  stories  the  Latin- 
American  journalist  usually  follows  the  chro- 
nological order,  so  that  often  the  most  im- 
portant facts  are  contained  in  the  last  para- 
graphs. Headings  consist,  as  a  rule,  of  two 
or  three  lines,  and  do  not  always  afford  a 


JOURNALISM  217 

clear  notion  of  what  the  article  is  about. 
The  average  Latin-American  editor,  it  would 
seem,  looks  upon  the  use  of  more  elaborate 
and  explanatory  headlines  as  a  manifesta- 
tion of  sensationaUsm.  A  busy  man,  accord- 
ingly, may  have  to  read  the  whole  news- 
paper before  he  finds  out  what  he  wants. 

Rarely  more  than  one  leading  editorial 
at  a  time  is  fiirnished.  As  a  rule  it  is  well 
written,  and  is  much  longer  than  similar 
compositions  in  American  newspapers.  Sun- 
day editions  are  infrequent.  When  issued 
they  are  sometimes  larger  than  those  of  week 
days;  but  they  do  not  ordinarily  strive  after 
special  features,  and  little  effort  is  made  to 
divide  them  into  sections  according  to  sub- 
jects. That  hideous  thing,  called  in  the 
United  States  a  ** comic  supplement,"  is 
almost  unknown.  Fortunately,  also,  the 
Latin- American  countries  have  few  "jour- 
nals of  color,"  such  as  "red-headed  extras," 
pink  sporting-sheets,  green  sheets  in  March 
and  everyday  sheets  of  the  "yellow"  kind. 
"Extras, "  in  the  proper  sense  of  the  term,  are 
seldom  issued. 

The  leading  dailies,  especially  those  in 
southern  and  eastern  South  America,  regu- 
larly publish  a  greater  amount  of  foreign 
news  than  do  their  contemporaries  in  the 
United  States.  The  lesser  degree  of  pro- 
vincialism shown  in  this  case  is  due  in  some 


218  LATIN  AMERICA 

countries,  perhaps,  to  the  absence  of  a  social 
and  poHtical  life  at  home  that  is  vigorous 
and  powerful;  in  others  to  the  presence 
of  large  foreign  colonies,  chiefly  of  Latin 
stock,  who  form  a  potent  element  in  the  cir- 
culation of  the  newspapers.  Naturally  the 
news  of  Spain,  and,  so  far  as  Brazil  is  con- 
cerned, of  Portugal,  takes  the  foremost  rank; 
but  occurrences  in  France  also  occupy 
a  position  of  great  prominence.  If  the  news- 
papers of  the  United  States  are  apt  to  give 
the  reading  public  an  impression  that  revo- 
lutions and  earthquakes  are  the  main  events  of 
interest  in  Latin  America,  the  journals  of  this 
area  in  turn  are  equally  disposed  to  entertain 
their  readers  with  accounts  of  American  rail- 
way WTccks,  divorce  cases  and  lynchings! 

Except  in  a  few  of  the  northern  republics, 
where  the  influence  of  American  customs  is 
strong,  newspapers  are  rarely  sold  on  the 
streets.  Instead,  they  are  placed  on  sale  at 
kiosks,  in  shops,  or  else  sent  out  to  subscribers. 
The  price  of  the  leading  papers  in  South 
America  ranges  usually  from  three  to  five 
cents.  In  the  smaller  republics  of  North 
America  they  have  a  circulation  of  between 
5,000  and  10,000  a  day,  those  of  Cuba  averag- 
ing as  high  as  25,000.  In  the  cities  of  Mexico 
and  Rio  de  Janeiro  they  reach  100,000  or 
more  a  day,  and  in  Buenos  Ayres  commonly 
between  130,000  and  150,000. 


JOURNALISM  219 

Hundreds  of  periodicals  are  published  in 
such  cities  as  Buenos  Ayres,  Mexico,  Monte- 
video, Rio  de  Janeiro,  Santiago  (Chile)  and 
Havana.  The  first  named  appropriately 
heads  the  list  with  about  500,  including 
seventy  or  more  dailies.  Printed  for  the 
most  part  in  Spanish,  of  course,  these  jour- 
nalistic productions  of  the  Argentine  capital 
include  periodicals  of  one  sort  or  another 
in  Italian,  French,  English,  German,  Danish, 
Arabic,  Turkish,  Swedish  and  Hebrew. 

When  one  considers  the  number  of  persons 
in  the  Latin-American  republics  who  are 
unable  to  read  and  write,  and  takes  into 
account,  also,  the  high  price  at  which  news- 
papers are  commonly  sold,  the  figures  above 
quoted  might  seem  surprising.  It  must 
be  remembered,  however,  that  they  refer 
to  the  circulation  of  the  dailies  in  the  capital 
cities,  where  educational  advantages  natur- 
ally are  at  their  best  and  hence  increase 
the  percentage  of  readers. 

Taking  the  various  countries  as  a  whole, 
the  reading  of  newspapers  and  other  pe- 
riodicals is  small  in  comparison  with  that 
visible  in  corresponding  areas  in  the  United 
States  or  Great  Britain.  Nor  are  the  news- 
papers, as  a  rule,  the  recognized  organs  of 
an  effective  and  democratic  public  opinion; 
and  they  cannot  become  forums  of  the  sort 
until   civic   education    is   far   more   widely 


220  LATIN  AMERICA 

diffused  in  the  republics  concerned.  They 
appear  to  represent  the  university  class  and 
the  great  landowners,  merchants  and  bankers 
rather  than  the  people  at  large. 

Yet  the  size  of  the  reading  public  in  Latin 
America,  and  the  extent  of  journalistic  in- 
fluence on  the  community,  are  not  to  be 
measured  by  the  numerical  amount  of  their 
circulation  alone.  Most  of  those  who  peruse 
the  newspapers  read  them  in  preference 
to  literature  in  magazine  or  book  form. 
Throughout  the  less  populous  areas,  indi- 
viduals who  know  how  to  read  retell  the 
news  to  their  less  fortunate  fellows,  at  the 
possible  risk  of  diversion  from  their  stated 
emplojTnents.  In  the  city  of  Mexico  it  is 
even  the  custom  for  certain  of  the  newspaper 
offices  to  post  a  copy  of  each  issue  on  a  bill- 
board hanging  against  the  front  of  the  build- 
ing, so  that  the  impecunious  may  learn  about 
the  events  of  the  day  free  of  charge. 

The  greatest  newspapers  in  Latin  America 
are  published  in  the  capital  cities  of  the 
Argentine  RepubHc,  Brazil,  Chile  and  Mex- 
ico. In  Buenos  Ayres  the  three  journals  that 
stand  foremost  are"LaNaci6n"  (TheNation), 
"La  Prensa"  (The  Press),  and  "La  Argen- 
tina" (The  Argentine).  Of  these  the  first 
two  have  long  been  the  standard  newspapers 
of  the  republic;  but  "La  Argentina,"  which 
in  form,  composition  and  tone  is  more  like 


JOURNALISM  221 

an  American  daily  than  its  contemporaries 
are,  has  become  a  powerful  rival  of  theirs. 
All  three  of  them  maintain  traditions  of 
the  best  sort  of  journalism  as  to  their  out- 
spokenness, criticism  and  news  service. 

"La  Nacion"  is  a  handsome  sheet  of  some 
sixteen  pages  or  more;  the  news  it  conveys 
is  world-wide,  well  selected  and  interestingly 
told,  and  its  editorials  are  sound  and  schol- 
arly. In  addition  to  its  purely  journalistic 
activities,  it  performs  a  useful  public  ser- 
vice in  publishing  numerous  cheap  editions 
of  scientific  works  and  of  the  better  sort  of 
literature,  for  popular  distribution.  Its 
supply  of  cable  and  telegraphic  news,  which 
is  second  perhaps  only  to  that  of  its  rival, 
"La  Prensa,"  is  quite  comparable  with  the 
best  of  that  furnished  in  the  great  cities  of 
Europe. 

In  many  respects  "La  Prensa"  is  the  most 
remarkable  example  of  journalistic  enterprise 
in  the  world.  Of  the  same  general  appear- 
ance and  size  as  "La  Nacion,"  it  supplies 
a  telegraph  and  cable  service  that  is  one  of 
the  finest  in  existence,  and  maintains  cor- 
respondents everywhere.  In  tone  it  is 
somewhat  more  sensational  than  its  chief 
contemporary. 

"La  Prensa,"  however,  is  more  than  a 
newspaper.  It  is  an  institution,  and  its 
most  extraordinary  activities  lie  outside  the 


222  LATIN  AMERICA 

domain  of  what  is  ordinarily  regarded  as 
journalism.  On  the  roof  of  its  magnificent 
building  are  installed  an  observatory  to 
furnish  information  about  the  state  of  the 
weather,  and  a  searchlight  to  show  the  loca- 
tion of  a  fire  and  flash  the  news  of  im- 
portant events.  'WTien  the  news  is  of  un- 
usual importance,  a  huge  siren  whistle  is 
blown  to  attract  public  attention  in  a  still 
more  convincing  manner.  On  the  national 
holidays  of  the  various  countries  of  the 
world,  also,  the  front  of  the  building  is 
draped  with  flags  and  bunting  appropriate 
to  the  occasion. 

"La  Prensa"  has  its  own  electric  light 
and  power  plant,  and  every  sort  of  modem 
mechanical  contrivance  to  facilitate  its  work, 
including  wireless  telegraphy.  Even  the 
drinking  water  used  by  the  employees 
is  sterilized  by  electricity.  For  these  em- 
ployees it  maintains  a  restaurant,  a  gymna- 
sium and  other  conveniences  for  recreation, 
and  an  emergency  hospital;  and  in  general 
it  provides  to  the  fullest  extent  for  their 
comfort  and  health.  The  printing  presses 
and  linotjTDCs  are  of  the  finest  American 
make,  and  the  reporters  compose  their 
"stories"  on  American  tj-pe^Titers. 

Among  the  many  services  installed  in  the 
building  of  "La  Prensa,"  and  offered  to  the 
public  aboslutely  free  of  cost,  are  legal  and 


JOURNALISM  223 

medical  consultation  bureaus,  and  one  for 
matters  connected  with  chemistry,  agricul- 
ture and  stock-raising,  as  well  as  a  show- 
room for  the  display  of  objects  relating  to 
these  branches  of  industry.  It  conducts  a 
school  of  music,  and  offers  prizes  for  unusual 
instances  of  self-denial  and  heroism,  and  for 
the  encouragement  of  popular  education. 
It  sets  aside  a  number  of  finely  appointed 
rooms  for  the  holding  of  public  meetings, 
in  which  lectures,  plays,  concerts  and  the 
like  are  given  in  aid  of  some  particular 
charity.  Popular  philharmonic  societies  as- 
semble here  to  contend  for  prizes  given  by  the 
paper  for  excellence  in  musical  composi- 
tion and  performance.  It  also  provides  a 
public  library  and  reading  room.  In  addi- 
tion to  all  this,  it  maintains  a  suite  of  lux- 
uriously furnished  apartments  for  the  en- 
tertainment of  distinguished  foreign  visitors. 
In  Brazil  the  journalistic  situation  is 
quite  different  from  that  found  in  the  re- 
publics of  Spanish  America.  Here  the 
newspapers  of  the  national  capital  do  not 
enjoy  a  monopoly,  to  the  virtual  exclusion 
of  the  smaller  cities  and  towns  of  the  coun- 
try. On  account  of  the  huge  size  of  Brazil 
and  the  manner  of  its  settlement  in  colonial 
times,  the  people  of  the  several  States  in- 
terest themselves  more  fully  in  local  affairs 
than   is   the   case   in   the   Spanish-speaking 


224  LATIN  AMERICA 

republics.  The  newspaper  press,  therefore, 
is  primarily  local  in  character  and  tends  to 
generalize  the  record  of  happenings  in  the 
remainder  of  the  country,  along  with  those 
from  abroad. 

The  dean  of  the  Brazilian  press,  and  a  for- 
midable rival  of  its  Argentine  contempo- 
raries, is  "O  Jornal  do  Commercio"  (The 
Journal  of  Commerce),  published  at  Rio  de 
Janeiro.  It  is  truly  a  great  daily,  not  only 
for  the  soundness  of  its  editorials  and  for 
the  amount  and  accuracy  of  its  news,  but 
in  the  material  sense  as  well,  measuring,  as 
it  does,  about  one  and  one  half  times  the 
size  of  the  average  newspaper  in  the  United 
States.  Normally  a  copy  of  the  "Jornal 
do  Commercio"  runs  from  twelve  to  twenty 
pages,  but  on  special  occasions,  like  Christ- 
mas, it  puts  forth  an  edition  of  more  than 
fifty  pages.  The  greatest  of  Brazilian  news- 
papers, also,  is  fittingly  installed  in  a 
large  and  handsome  building,  replete  with 
every  modern  convenience,  and  provided 
with  printing  apparatus  of  the  best  European 
and  American  makes. 

The  foremost  newspaper  of  Chile  is  "El 
Mercurio"  (The  Mercury),  and  shares  with 
"0  Jornal  do  Commercio"  the  distinction  of 
being  one  of  the  oldest  newspapers  in  South 
America.  Both  were  founded  in  1827. 
"El  Mercurio"  is  published  at  Valparaiso, 


JOUKNALISM  225 

Santiago  and  one  or  two  other  cities,  and 
has  an  evening  edition  entitled  "Las  Ulti- 
mas Noticias"  (The  Latest  News).  In 
form  and  the  number  of  its  pages  it  bears 
more  resemblance  to  the  American  type 
of  newspaper  than  it  does  to  that  of  its  con- 
temporaries in  Buenos  Ayres  and  Rio  de 
Janeiro.  Like  them  it  is  installed  in  a  fine 
modern  edifice,  and  is  provided  with  the 
apparatus  suited  to  a  newspaper  plant  of  the 
first  order.  Its  editorials  are  well  written 
and  the  news  of  the  day  is  conveyed  in  a 
compact  and  readable  form. 

In  Mexico  the  most  representative  news- 
paper, perhaps,  is  "El  Imparcial"  (The 
Impartial);  but  since  the  resignation  of 
Porfirio  Diaz  it  has  lost  much  of  its  former 
prestige.  Largely  influential  in  bringing  the 
ideas  of  modern  journalism  into  Mexico, 
it  has  performed  a  genuine  public  service 
in  putting  the  newspaper  within  the  reach  of 
the  poorest  classes,  through  the  issuance 
of  penny  editions.  The  oldest,  and  probably 
the  best,  newspaper  in  the  countries  of 
Central  America  is  "El  Diario  del  Salvador" 
(The  Salvador  Daily),  published  in  the 
capital  city  of  the  republic  of  that  name. 
Among  the  Cuban  newspapers,  "La  Lucha" 
(The  Struggle),  of  Havana,  is  one  of  the 
most  important. 

In  addition  to  newspapers,  of  course,  all 


«26  LATIN  AMERICA 

of  the  countries  of  Latin  America  publish 
literary,  artistic  and  scientific  journals,  many 
of  which  are  apt  to  have  a  precarious  exist- 
ence. Some  of  these  periodicals  of  a  weekly 
sort,  like  the  one  issued  at  Buenos  Ayres  and 
entitled  "Caras  y  Caretas"  (Faces  and 
Masks),  have  few,  if  any,  precise  counter- 
parts in  the  United  States  and  Great  Brit- 
ain. They  contain  the  news  of  the  week, 
illustrated  by  photographs  and  cartoons, 
and  are  supplied,  also,  with  comments 
on  current  topics,  short  stories,  jokes  and 
comic  pictures. 

Among  the  best  of  the  larger  illustrated 
journals  are  "La  Ilustracion  Sud- Americana'* 
and  "El  Arte  Ilustrada,"  of  Buenos  Ayres; 
"A  Ilustracao  Brazileira,"  of  Rio  de  Janeiro; 
"El  Zigzag,"  of  Santiago,  Chile;  "El  Mundo 
Ilustrado,"  of  Mexico,  and  "El  Cojo  Ilus- 
trado"  of  Caracas.  Of  the  more  distinctly 
serious  magazines,  "La  Revista  de  Derecho, 
Historia  y  Letras"  (The  Review  of  Law, 
History  and  Letters),  of  Buenos  Ajnres,  oc- 
cupies a  foremost  place.  The  literary 
character  of  these  and  similar  periodicals 
is  a  distinguishing  feature.  Most  of  them 
give  proofs  of  a  careful  process  of  editing 
and  selection,  and  are  institutions  in  the 
life  of  their  respective  countries. 

In  the  largest  cities  of  Latin  America,  as 
already   intimated,   foreign   newspapers   are 


LITERATURE  227 

numerous.  Of  those  printed  in  English, 
the  most  noteworthy  are  :  "The  Standard'* 
and  the  "Buenos  Aires  Herald"  (Argentine 
Republic);  "The  Montevideo  Times"  (Uru- 
guay); "The  Mexican  Herald"  and  "The 
Star  and  Herald,"  of  Panama.  The  two  last 
mentioned  are  published  also  in  a  Spanish 
edition.  In  the  list  of  semi- weekly,  weekly 
and  monthly  magazines  and  other  periodi- 
cals put  forth  in  English,  may  be  mentioned 
"The  Review  of  the  River  Plate,"  "The 
Brazilian  Review,"  "The  Chilean  Times," 
and  three  in  Mexico,  namely,  "The  Pan- 
American  Magazine,"  "The  Mexican  In- 
vestor" and  "The  Mexican  Mining  Journal.'* 

CHAPTER  XX 

LITERATURE 

During  the  wars  of  independence  the 
Spanish-American  mind  busied  itself  chiefly 
in  the  composition  of  fierce  invectives  against 
the  mother  country,  and  of  ardent  appeals 
to  the  patriotic  spirit  of  the  time.  The 
scenes  and  memories  of  the  struggle  were 
slow  to  find  recorders  in  the  poet  and  the 
historian.  Instead,  the  necessities  arising 
out  of  the  new  situation  appeared  to  demand 
that  attention  should  be  given  primarily 
to  matters  of  political  import. 


228  LATIN  AMERICA 

Even  for  a  half  century  after  independence 
had  been  won,  literary  endeavor  displayed 
itself  largely  in  assailing  or  extolling  the 
various  governments,  along  with  the  aspira- 
tions or  achievements  of  the  individuals 
who  shaped  them.  So  complex  were  the  ques- 
tions offered,  and  so  acute  the  differences 
of  opinion  among  the  factions  and  leaders, 
that  the  tinge  of  partisanship  was  excep- 
tionally marked.  Most  of  the  works,  indeed, 
published  during  this  period  served  little 
more  than  to  reflect  the  local  attitude  or 
the  personal  sentiments  of  their  respective 
authors. 

As  conditions  in  one  state  or  another  be- 
came relatively  free  from  internal  disturbance, 
constitutional  and  international  law,  po- 
litical economy  and  education  were  the 
subjects  that  occupied  a  position  of  promi- 
nence. Written  mainly  from  an  external 
or  abstract  point  of  view,  the  various  treatises 
on  these  matters  were  apt  to  lack  definite- 
ness  of  application  to  purely  national  con- 
cerns. Descriptive  only  too  often  of  in- 
stitutions and  practices  in  Europe,  their 
presentation  could  not  exercise  a  direct  and 
potent  influence  on  the  life  and  thought  of 
those  to  whom  they  were  addressed. 

Since  about  1876,  however,  when  the  Latin- 
American  nations  in  general  began  to  be 
brought  into  closer  contact  with  the  world 


LITERATURE  229 

at  large,  a  keen  interest  has  been  aroused 
among  them  in  social  and  economic  problems 
of  a  concrete  character.  Journalists,  essay- 
ists, novelists,  poets  and  historians  have  come 
to  take  an  active  part  in  the  discussion  of  the 
principles  and  measures  that  may  tend  to 
solve  these  problems,  so  far  as  they  have 
arisen  in  their  own  countries.  Instead  of 
dealing  with  what  concerns  Europe,  many 
of  the  authors  have  sought  inspiration  in  the 
characteristics  and  environment  of  their  own 
people.  The  inclination  of  former  days  to 
mistake  the  locality  for  the  nation,  and  the 
individual  for  the  community,  is  giving  way 
to  a  spirit  of  vigorous  and  intense  national- 
ism in  all  that  lies  within  the  realm  of  the 
intellect. 

Though  repudiating  the  political  author- 
ity of  Spain,  the  earlier  writers  of  Spanish 
America  long  adhered  to  its  literary  ideals 
and  forms.  They  had  been  educated  ex- 
clusively in  the  traditions  of  the  mother 
country.  The  languages  of  other  European 
lands  they  scarcely  knew.  With  the  close 
of  the  wars  of  independence  the  pure  litera- 
ture engendered  by  the  struggle  came  forth; 
but  its  expression  ran  in  Spanish  molds, 
and  followed  their  changing  structure  from 
neo-classicism  to  romanticism. 

Restrained  by  the  tendency  of  the  age  to 
concentrate  effort  on  political  themes,  dis- 


830  LATIN  AMERICA 

couraged  by  the  animosities  of  party  strife, 
bereft  of  communication  with  the  world  of 
culture  beyond,  imaginative  thought  was 
unable  to  develop  freely  its  own  resources. 
When  it  finally  met  the  flood  of  modern 
realism  surging  to  the  north  of  the  Pyrenees, 
it  was  overwhelmed.  Escaping  the  Spanish 
Scylla,  it  encountered  the  French  Charybdis. 
Only  of  recent  years  has  Spanish-American 
literature  begun  to  display  the  vigor,  fresh- 
ness, spontaneity  and  originality  which  its 
environment  ought  to  suggest. 

The  mother  country  left  to  its  former 
colonies  a  rich,  sonorous  and  flexible  lan- 
guage, together  with  a  literary  style  at  once 
rhetorical,  ceremonious,  artificial  and  florid. 
Since  then  it  has  watched  with  disapproval 
what  it  regards  as  an  abandonment  by  the 
Spanish  Americans  of  the  narrow  path  of 
correctness  closely  guarded  by  the  canons 
of  the  Spanish  "Academy  of  the  Language." 
It  reprehends  their  departure  from  pure  Cas- 
tilian,  not  only  in  actual  speech  and  or- 
thography, but  in  syntax  and  diction  as  well. 
On  their  part,  the  Spanish  Americans  assert 
that  they  have  a  more  scientific  conception 
of  the  development  of  speech.  Their  cir- 
cumstances, also,  they  believe,  justify  them 
in  making  the  Spanish  language  an  instru- 
ment of  expression,  broader  and  more 
plastic  than  is  possible  in  Spain  itself. 


LITERATURE  331 

So  long  as  neo-classicisra  held  sway  in 
Spanish  America,  at  all  events,  the  stand- 
ards of  the  Golden  Age  were  strictly  up- 
held. The  great  masters  of  the  seventeenth 
century  alone  could  be  imitated,  and  criti- 
cism dealt  harshly  with  the  few  daring 
spirits  who  strove  to  seek  inspiration  and 
guidance  from  some  other  source.  Useful 
though  it  was  in  furthering  the  acquisition 
of  taste  and  style,  the  model  of  the  Spanish 
classicists  proved  to  be  too  rigid,  too  stilted, 
if  not  altogether  too  antiquated,  to  suit 
the  mental  processes  of  the  modern  age. 
Nor  was  the  situation  improved  by  the  ex- 
cessively ornamental,  and  even  bombastic, 
qualities  of  Spanish  romanticism,  which 
tended  to  hamper  the  employment  of  direct- 
ness, simplicity  and  conciseness  in  expression. 
Accordingly  the  great  body  of  Spanish- 
American  poets  and  prose  writers,  unable 
to  overcome  the  traditional  usages,  crossed 
the  Pyrenees  and  surrendered  themselves 
unconditionally  to  the  ruling  thought  of 
France. 

While  the  Spanish-American  mind  was 
passing  through  these  vicissitudes,  the  course 
of  intellectual  development  in  Brazil  bore 
quite  a  different  character.  Portugal  had 
not  endowed  its  former  dominion  with  a 
literature  so  rich,  so  abundant  and  so  varied 
as  Spain  had  done  in  the  case  of  its  own  pos- 


2S2  LATIN  AMERICA 

sessions  oversea.  Brazilian  authors,  there- 
fore, while  using  the  Portuguese  language 
as  their  natural  vehicle  of  expression,  were 
bound  by  few,  if  any,  canons  of  masters  and 
academies.  Their  literary  standards  they 
formed  rather  to  suit  their  needs. 

Exempt  from  the  violent  contests  that 
were  agitating  the  republics  of  Spanish 
America,  the  thought  of  Brazil  concerned 
itself  little  with  practical  politics,  or  with 
theorizings  about  the  state  and  its  func- 
tions. Instead,  it  sought  and  found  subjects 
for  song  and  story  in  the  aboriginal  life  of 
its  own  land.  The  result  was  that  a  fervid 
and  devoted  "Indianism"  pervaded  the 
literature  of  the  earlier  years  of  the  empire. 

Later,  in  proportion  as  Brazil  came  into 
a  more  intimate  relationship  with  Europe, 
its  men  of  letters  fell  inevitably  into  the 
currents  of  Old  World  mentality.  English, 
German  and  French  philosophy  took  a 
firm  hold  on  the  Brazilian  imagination. 
Evolutionism,  monism  and  positivism — each 
had  its  representatives;  but  positivism,  the 
"religion  of  humanity,"  triumphed  over  its 
competitors.  "Order  and  progress"  became 
the  national  watchwords,  and  the  in- 
fluence of  French  methods  and  principles 
has  remained  in  the  ascendent,  more  exten- 
sive perhaps  than  profound.  Yet  with  all 
its  submissiveness  to  the  control  thus  exer- 


LITERATURE  2SS 

cised,  the  literature  of  Brazil  is  perhaps 
the  most  distinctly  American  in  Latin 
America  at  large. 

Without  attempting  to  point  out  precisely 
how  the  intellectual  supremacy,  which  France 
still  enjoys  in  the  twenty  republics,  is 
displayed,  it  may  be  sufficient  to  remark 
that  the  language  and  literature  of  that 
country  appear  to  embody  most  of  the 
qualities  that  fascinate  the  Latin-American 
mind.  Through  its  language  the  Latin 
Americans  familiarize  themselves  with  the 
course  of  events  in  the  literary,  scientific 
and  artistic  world.  Through  it,  also,  they 
endeavor  to  give  their  own  thought  a  wider 
publicity.  French  literature  furnishes 
them  a  norm  of  correctness.  Its  ideas  and 
diction,  its  content  and  style,  impart  re- 
finement and  elegance  in  taste,  phraseology 
and  expression. 

No  European  nation  has  done  so  much, 
officially  and  privately,  as  France  to 
strengthen  its  intellectual  poAver  in  Latin 
Ajnerica.  The  man  of  letters  from  any  of  the 
republics  finds  there  a  heartiness  of  welcome, 
an  eagerness  to  meet  his  wishes,  a  desire  to 
facilitate  his  work,  which  make  an  irresist- 
ible appeal.  In  this  propaganda  a  group  of 
Latin-American  writers  resident  in  Paris  is 
taking  an  active  and  important  share. 

To  form  a  just  conception  of  what  the 


234  LATIN  AMERICA 

literature  of  the  twenty  republics  is,  and  of 
what  it  seeks  to  reaHze,  a  number  of  other 
circumstances  molding  its  development 
must  be  taken  into  account.  Political  dis- 
turbances or  exigencies,  and  a  somewhat 
excessive  amount  of  foreign  influence,  have 
not  been  the  only  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
a  full  and  free  assertion  of  native  genius. 
The  intellectual  isolation,  in  which  Latin- 
American  authors  have  stood  toward  one 
another,  has  prevented  many  of  them  from 
appreciating  the  abundance  of  material  for 
treatment  afforded  by  the  history  and  present 
conditions  of  the  various  lands  and  peoples. 
Communication  of  minds  among  them,  on 
the  whole,  is  weaker  even  than  commercial 
and  political  connection. 

The  Latin-American  men  of  letters  may 
know  their  own  particular  country  or  Europe, 
but  they  are  often  unable,  or  unwilling,  to 
interest  themselves  in  the  mental  achieve- 
ments of  their  neighbors  of  like  or  similar 
origin.  Cooperation  of  an  effective  sort 
is  thus  impeded,  and  an  impulse  given, 
either  to  make  literature  provincial,  rather 
than  American,  in  spirit,  or  else  to  copy 
what  Europe  offers,  without  due  considera- 
tion of  its  adaptability  to  national  needs. 

Then,  too,  a  species  of  intellectual  cult, 
handed  down  from  colonial  times,  is  still 
fairly   prevalent.     An   exaggerated   respect 


LITERATURE  i$S 

IS  shown  to  the  utterances  or  publications 
of  an  "authority,"  whose  statements  and 
opinions  are  held  to  be  unquestionable  in 
their  soundness  and  veracity.  Hence,  if  any 
given  matter  is  not  mentioned,  or  is  con- 
demned, by  such  an  "authority,"  it  does  not 
exist,  is  valueless  or  is  dangerous  to  believe, 
as  the  case  may  be. 

Instead  of  enjoying  a  system  of  education 
widely  diffused,  an  enlightened  public  opin- 
ion that  recognizes  and  stimulates  literary 
genius,  an  abundance  of  readers,  a  multi- 
plicity of  publishers,  and  numerous  and 
easily  available  libraries,  the  Latin-American 
countries  are  distinctly  lacking  in  these 
incentives  to  authorship.  Outside  of  a  few 
of  the  largest  cities,  the  circle  of  readers  is 
probably  smaller  than  that  of  a  single  street 
in  London,  New  York  or  Berlin.  If  the  ad- 
vanced states  of  the  world  put  forth  the 
better  sort  of  books  cheaply,  in  order  to 
reach  the  mass  of  the  people,  the  reverse 
is  commonly  true  in  Latin  America.  There 
the  cost  of  publication  is  heavy,  and  the  best 
works  are  addressed  to  a  very  small  class, 
issued  in  limited  editions,  and  usually 
brought  out  at  the  expense  of  the  author. 

Laboring  in  an  atmosphere  from  which,  as 
they  complain,  literary  taste  and  appre- 
ciation are  largely  missing,  the  men  who 
possess  the  ability  to  write  books  and  the 


236  LATIN  AMERICA 

means  to  publish  them  are  almost  forced 
to  give  them  away.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
conjunction  of  the  two  endowments  is  not 
always  a  benefit  to  the  author  and  his 
group  of  readers.  As  the  one  is  tempted  to 
write  and  publish  lavishly,  so  the  other 
is  impelled  to  estimate  literary  importance 
in  terms  of  quantity  rather  than  of  quality. 

Of  the  lighter  literature  of  Latin  America, 
a  large  part  has  had  to  appear  in  periodicals, 
with  the  effect  of  fostering  an  inclination 
to  continue  producing  it  in  that  form. 
Many  of  the  works  of  eminent  writers  exist 
only  in  fugitive  publications,  difficult  of 
access.  Recently,  however,  efforts  have 
been  made  to  collect  and  republish,  in  so- 
called  "bibliotecas,"  or  "libraries,"  much 
of  the  valuable  material  that  may  be  drawn 
from  those  and  other  sources. 

Because  of  the  fact  that  the  sales  of  almost 
any  book  of  merit  are  so  limited,  the  expense 
of  printing  treatises  of  general  interest 
or  permanent  worth  is  frequently  borne,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  by  the  governments.  Nor 
is  it  rare  to  find  official  encouragement 
offered  to  literary  enterprise,  through  the 
award  of  prizes  or  the  grant  of  stipends,  to 
enable  writers  of  promise  to  study  abroad. 

In  most  of  the  countries,  the  novelists 
and  dramatists  suffer  from  the  disadvan- 
tage of  having  no  adequate  protection  against 


LITERATURE  237 

European,  and  notably  French,  competition. 
Publishers  and  managers,  it  would  seem,  find 
it  easier,  and  certainly  cheaper,  to  secure 
translations  than  to  interest  themselves 
in  native  works.  Although  many  of  the 
republics  have  a  clause  in  the  national 
constitution,  guaranteeing  the  right  of  an 
author  to  ownership  in  the  creations  of 
his  mind,  suitable  provision  is  seldom  made 
to  enforce  it. 

This  policy  of  denying  the  utility  of  the 
copyright  system,  so  far  as  local  circum- 
stances are  concerned,  has  not  a  few  defen- 
ders in  Latin  America.  They  argue,  in  all 
seriousness,  that  the  free  reproduction  of 
works  originally  issued  in  Europe  or  the 
United  States  promotes  the  growth  of 
home  talent  by  force  of  example,  and  hence 
conduces  to  the  formation  of  a  national 
literature.  Indeed  they  venture  to  assert 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  authors  in  the  more 
advanced  countries  of  the  world  to  allow 
their  books  or  plays  to  be  translated  gratu- 
itously for  the  benefit  of  their  less  fortunate 
fellows.  The  larger  publicity  thus  received 
and  a  happy  knowledge  of  the  good  thus 
accomplished,  ought  to  be  regarded,  they 
think,  as  sufficient  compensation. 

Practically  all  of  the  states  possess  na- 
tional libraries,  some  of  which,  like  those  of 
Brazil,    Mexico,    Chile    and    the   Argentine 


238  LATIN  AMERICA 

Republic,  are  of  considerable  importance. 
Most  of  the  collections,  however,  are  un- 
suitably housed,  and  the  facilities  vouch- 
safed to  readers  are  often  quite  inadequate. 
Except  in  the  capital  cities,  public  libraries 
are  rare.  The  result  is,  that  the  difficulties 
attendant  upon  transportation  make  the 
national  collectiors  well-nigh  useless  to  per- 
sons who  live  at  a  considerable  distance. 

Given  these  drawbacks,  the  Latin-Ameri- 
can writers  who  have  persevered  in  spite 
of  them  deserve  all  the  more  credit  for  what 
they  have  accomplished.  Even  if  they 
have  not  brought  forth  as  yet  any  indi- 
vidual work  that  has  wielded  a  powerful 
influence  on  the  literature  of  the  world, 
they  have  composed  many  of  a  high  type 
of  excellence.  Were  Spanish  and  Portu- 
guese international  languages  in  the  sense 
that  English,  French  and  German  are,  the 
productions  of  the  Latin-American  mind 
would  be  more  fully  appreciated. 

There  is  a  saying  in  the  tropics  that 
"life  without  literature  and  quinine  is  not 
worth  living."  Whatever  the  potence  of 
the  drug,  the  activity  of  the  Latin-Ameri- 
can intellect,  both  within  and  without 
the  tropics,  certainly  would  seem  to  make 
the  adage  true.  The  material  backward- 
ness, furthermore,  of  any  particular  republic 
is  no  evidence  of  poverty  of  mind.    Some  of 


LITERATURE  239 

the  least  advanced  states  have  been  the  birth- 
places of  eminent  men  of  letters.  While 
every  one  of  the  Latin-American  countries 
can  point  with  pride  to  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  gifted  writers  on  many  themes,  eight 
out  of  the  twenty  nations  may  be  singled 
out,  perhaps,  as  literary  centers,  alike  for 
the  amount  and  for  the  excellence  of  the 
works  produced.  These  are  the  Argentine 
Republic,  Brazil,  Chile,  Colombia,  Mexico, 
Peru,  Uruguay  and  Venezuela. 

Latin  Americans  are  especially  prolific 
in  the  composition  of  poetry,  to  which  the 
liquid  qualities  of  the  Spanish  and  Portu- 
guese languages  easily  lend  themselves.  Lit- 
erary criticism,  also,  is  an  art  cultivated  by 
them  with  marked  success.  Prose  fiction, 
and  the  writing  of  short  stories  in  par- 
ticular, they  have  taken  up  only  in  recent 
years;  hence  the  number  of  authors  represent- 
ing it  is  still  quite  small.  Among  the  more 
serious  branches  of  literature,  history,  bi- 
ography, ethnology,  politics,  jurisprudence, 
economics,  sociology  and  psychology  are  often 
treated  at  great  length  and  with  much  skill. 
In  the  cultivation  of  some  of  these  phases  of 
productive  thought,  the  Argentine  Republic 
may  be  said  to  excel  in  politics  and  social 
science,  Brazil  in  romance,  Chile  in  history 
and  Colombia  in  poetry. 

Literatm-e,    to    the    Latin    American,    is 


240  LATIN  AMERICA 

a  form  of  recreation  rather  than  a  stated 
profession.  His  mental  drift  being  toward 
introspection,  he  is  readily  disposed  to  put 
his  soliloquies  on  paper.  He  tries,  therefore, 
to  reproduce  his  own  thoughts,  instead  of 
seeking  to  reach  the  mind  of  others. 

Public  men  in  the  various  countries,  more- 
over, are  apt  to  be  able  writers.  Political 
life  and  literary  vigor  seem  to  be  mutually 
stimulating.  Versatility  is  another  marked 
feature  of  the  Latin-American  intellect.  Its 
most  gifted  exponents,  familiar  with  many 
branches  of  learning,  and  endowed  with  bril- 
liant imaginative  faculties,  write  almost,  if 
not  quite,  equally  as  well  on  one  subject  as 
they  do  on  another.  Accordingly  it  is  diffi- 
cult at  times  to  determine  which  particular 
type  of  thought  a  given  author  represents. 

Latin-American  literature  is  characterized 
by  an  ingenious  and  agile  style,  an  ease  and 
elasticity  of  form,  a  freedom  of  «Kpression 
and  a  singularly  rich  and  varied  vocabu- 
lary. While  not  violating  the  essential 
principles  of  grammar,  it  does  not  permit 
itself  to  be  dominated  by  them.  On  the 
other  hand  it  retains,  in  some  measure,  the 
florid,  bombastic  and  redundant  elements 
included  in  the  heritage  from  the  mother 
countries.  Trending  toward  exaggerated 
modes  of  setting  forth  ideas,  it  frequently 
lacks  terseness  and  directness. 


FINE  ARTS  241 

Many  of  the  best  writers  of  Latin  America, 
however,  are  striving  to  model  their  works 
on  the  masterpieces  of  prose  and  poetry  of 
all  time,  and  not  simply  on  the  literary 
standards  of  Spain,  Portugal  or  France. 
They  are  no  less  earnest,  also,  in  their  effort 
to  choose  their  themes  from  national  life 
and  from  life  in  the  New  World  at  large. 
In  this  attitude  they  are  being  upheld  by  a 
reaction  among  the  members  of  the  reading 
public  in  behalf  of  native  authors,  which 
may  enable  them  to  enjoy  an  ampler  field 
for  the  display  of  their  genius. 

CHAPTER  XXI 

FINE  ARTS 

Viewing  the  twenty  republics  as  a  whole, 
native  drama,  music,  architecture,  sculp- 
ture and  painting  appear  to  stand  on  a 
much  lower  level  of  achievement  than  native 
literature.  Though  keenly  appreciative  of 
all  forms  of  beauty,  the  Latin  American, 
so  far  as  his  own  creative  instinct  is  concerned 
prefers  to  give  them  expression  in  the  written 
word.  Other  manifestations  of  the  intel- 
lect and  the  imagination,  which  yield  aes- 
thetic pleasure,  he  is  more  content  to  draw 
from  Europe,  or  to  have  the  government 
furnish   them   the   needful   encouragement. 


242  LATIN  AMERICA 

Talented  as  many  of  the  native  artists 
are,  they  can  hardly  be  compared,  either 
in  genius  or  productivity,  with  the  great  men 
of  letters. 

In  Latin  America  the  promotion  of  the 
fine  arts  is  regarded  as  a  distinct  function 
of  the  government,  national  or  municipal. 
Through  its  operation  the  double  purpose, 
presumably,  is  accomplished,  of  stimulat- 
ing native  talent  and  of  enhancing 
refinement  of  taste  among  the  people 
at  large.  Accordingly  the  governments  in 
most  of  the  republics  support  outright,  or  are 
the  chief  contributors  to  the  maintenance,  not 
only  of  art  galleries  and  museums,  but  of 
theaters,  opera-houses,  conservatories  of 
music  and  schools  of  art.  Expositions  are 
held  under  official  auspices,  and  prizes 
are  awarded  for  the  best  native  productions. 
When  unusually  talented  pupils  are  found 
at  any  of  the  institutions,  public  or  private, 
they  are  frequently  given  the  means  to 
study  abroad.  Cooperating,  also,  with  the 
official  agencies,  numerous  private  organi- 
zations supply  opportunities  for  native 
ability  to  assert  itself.  All  of  these  efforts 
to  foster  a  love  of  the  beautiful,  of  course, 
are  seen  to  chief  advantage  in  the  national 
capitals,  and  notably  in  Buenos  Ayres,  Rio 
de  Janeiro,  Mexico,  Santiago  and  Caracas. 

To  the  Latin-American  artist,  France  and 


FINE  ARTS  243 

Italy  are  the  potent  sources  of  inspiration 
and  instruction.  Paris,  in  particular,  is 
the  mecca  toward  which  he  sets  his  face, 
and  from  which  he  hopes  to  gain  the  recog- 
nition that  will  bring  him  fame  in  his  own 
country.  The  French  and  Italian  schools, 
indeed,  exercise  a  profound  and  far-reaching 
influence  on  the  development  of  artistic 
conception  and  execution  everywhere  in 
Latin  America. 

In  the  realms  of  drama  and  music,  several 
of  the  capital  cities  can  boast  of  theaters 
and  opera-houses  comparable  with  the  finest 
of  their  kind  in  Europe  or  the  United  States. 
The  "National"  in  Mexico,  the  "Colon" 
(Columbus)  in  Buenos  Ayres,  and  the 
"Municipal"  in  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Santi- 
ago, are  noteworthy  examples  of  modern 
magnificence  and  equipment  in  playhouses. 

Native  dramatic  talent  being  scant,  nearly 
all  the  stage  productions  are  brought  from 
Europe.  While  the  works  of  the  classical 
Spanish  dramatists  and  of  recent  Spanish 
playwrights,  including  the  "zarzuela"  or 
species  of  short  play  set  to  music,  have  a 
certain  vogue,  French  and  Italian  pieces, 
given  either  in  the  original  or  in  transla- 
tion, are  especially  popular.  The  actors, 
also,  come  chiefly  from  Spain,  France  and 
Italy. 

The  Latin-American  countries  have  pro- 


244  LATIN  AMERICA 

duced  a  number  of  excellent  musicians,  and 
not  a  few  composers  of  merit.  As  a  rule 
the  efforts  of  the  native  composers  are  con- 
fined to  the  writing  of  patriotic  and  popular 
songs.  Where  the  music  is  not  clearly  of 
European  origin,  it  commonly  takes  the  form 
of  marking  the  rythm  of  a  dance  or  of  ac- 
companying a  song. 

Grand  opera  is  everywhere  the  great  at- 
traction, if  the  financial  means  are  available 
for  its  support.  In  cities  like  Buenos  Ayres, 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Santiago  and  Montevideo, 
it  is  presented  on  a  sumptuous  scale.  Many 
a  world-renowned  conductor  or  singer  has 
made  his  debut  there.  The  companies 
usually  are  Italian,  and  their  repertoire 
consists  for  the  most  part  of  Italian  and 
French  operas.  The  heavy  dramatic  music 
of  the  Germans  does  not  appeal  so  much  to 
the  Latin-American  temperament.  Some  of 
the  earlier  and  more  melodious  Wagnerian 
operas,  and  even  the  prelude  and  closing 
number  of  the  "trilogy,"  are  sung,  but  then 
almost  always  in  Italian. 

Concerts  and  oratorios  are  frequently 
given  in  the  large  cities.  Chamber  music  is 
heard  at  times,  but  it  is  not  particularly 
cared  for.  Band  concerts  in  the  public 
squares  make  abundant  provision  to  meet 
the  more  popular  requirements. 

In  nearly  all  of  the  national  capitals  the 


FINE  ARTS  245 

important   public   buildings   are   handsome 
in    design    and    elaborate    in    construction. 
I  Lofty  edifices  are  seen  only  in  a  few  of  the 
j  largest   cities.     The   houses   rarely   consist 
i  of  more  than  two  stories,  and  those  of  but 
I  one  story  are  the  commonest.     Brick  and 
stucco,  rather  than  stone,  are  used  as  build- 
ing   materials,    mud    and    straw,    however, 
being  the  chief  components  in  the  huts  of  the 
poorer    classes,    especially    in    the    tropical 
areas.    Many  of  the  towns  still  preserve  the 
quaint  appearance  of  colonial  times.     This 
is  notably  true  of  their  ecclesiastical  build- 
ings, the  great  majority  of  which  date  from 
that  period.     There  also,  and  even  in  the 
larger  cities,  the  streets  are  often  no  wider 
than  they  were  in  the  days  of  Spanish  and 
Portuguese    rule,    and    hence    are    apt    to 
cause  serious  congestion  of  traffic. 

Of  late  years  a  marvelous  work  of  trans- 
formation has  been  effected  in  several  of  the 
national  capitals,  such  as  Buenos  Ayres, 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  Mexico  and  Montevideo. 
In  them,  and  even  in  a  number  of  other  urban 
centers  not  so  populous,  the  idea  of  the  "city 
beautiful  "has  been  cultivated  to  a  very  grati- 
fying extent.  Vast  sums  of  money  have 
been  spent  to  make  them  representative 
of  the  best  that  modern  conditions  of  light, 
ventilation,  cleanliness  and  attractiveness 
demand.     Broad  highways  and  promenades 


246  LATIN  AMERICA 

have  been  built,  fine  public  squares  laid  out, 
and  charming  parks  and  gardens  constructed, 
the  whole  replete  with  fountains,  statuary 
and  other  embellishments. 

Under  the  direction  of  its  municipal 
art  commission,  Buenos  Ayres,  moreover, 
for  some  years  past  has  been  encouraging 
the  builders  of  private  structures  to  render 
them  handsome  in  appearance.  It  awards 
annually  a  medal  and  a  diploma  to  the  archi- 
tect designing  the  best  fagade,  and  exempts 
the  owner  of  the  edifice  that  wins  the  prize 
from  the  payment  of  certain  taxes.  A 
bronze  plate  with  a  suitable  inscription 
is  aflaxed,  also,  to  the  front  of  the  building 
thus  chosen  for  distinction. 

If  the  Latin-American  republics  have 
not  brought  forth  many  dramatists,  musi- 
cians and  architects  whose  names  and 
achievements  are  likely  to  be  long  remem- 
bered by  their  countrymen,  the  reverse  is 
true  of  the  sculptors  and  painters,  especially 
of  those  of  Brazil,  Cliile,  Mexico  and  Vene- 
zuela. They  too  have  had  to  face  some  of 
the  difficulties  besetting  the  pathway  of  the 
men  of  letters,  and  in  addition  have  had  to 
encounter  others  peculiar  to  their  own  fields 
of  activity. 

Much  of  the  handiwork  of  colonial  crafts- 
men, and  of  many  a  European  master,  which 
might  have  served  to  kindle  the  enthusiasm 


FINE  ARTS  247 

and  emulation  of  Latin-American  artists, 
perished  or  disappeared  during  the  course 
of  the  struggle  for  independence  and  the 
poHtical  agitation  following  it.  The  exam- 
ples that  survived,  and  in  particular  the 
treasures  kept  in  the  churches,  were  only 
too  often  seized  and  sold  in  reckless  fashion 
by  governments,  or  revolutionists,  to  help 
replenish  their  war-chests.  Later,  when 
normal  conditions  had  been  established, 
questions  of  material  advancement  crowded 
out  all  thought  of  attention  to  the  plastic 
and  pictorial  arts.  Not  until  the  grade 
of  public  welfare  had  reached  a  point 
where  it  might  provide  the  needful  money, 
leisure  and  understanding,  could  they  ob- 
tain a  fair  amount  of  recognition. 

Like  their  contemporaries  in  the  field  of 
literature,  the  Latin-American  sculptors  and 
painters  became  obsessed  with  the  idea  that 
Europe  alone  could  furnish,  not  only  the 
skill  and  technique  required  in  their  pro- 
fession, but  the  subjects  for  representation 
as  well.  Clinging  persistently,  and  even 
blindly,  to  Greek  and  French  models,  the 
works  that  came  from  their  chisel  and  brush 
were  rarely  more  than  mediocre  and  lifeless 
copies.  Such  productions  aroused  neither 
pleasure  nor  dislike;  they  were  simply 
to  be  looked  at  and  forgotten.  Only  in  the 
last  decade  or  two  have  some  of  the  Latin- 


248  LATIN  AMERICA 

American  artists  begun  to  realize  that,  while 
they  can  derive  immense  advantage  from 
a  com'se  of  study  under  European  masters, 
they  should  search  primarily  in  their  own 
lands  for  the  inspiration  that  will  quicken 
their  creative  impulse,  and  should  strive 
to  render  the  expression  of  it  vigorously 
and  soundly  national. 

Even  to-day,  as  a  rule,  the  Latin-American 
painter  is  so  much  under  the  spell  of  his 
foreign  teachers  that  he  seldom  attempts 
to  reproduce  his  native  environment.  Ob- 
livious to  the  physical  beauties  of  his  country, 
he  ignores  its  landscapes.  Nor  does  he  find 
the  inspiration  that  he  should  in  the  inter- 
esting and  often  picturesque  social  types 
surrounding  him  —  types  like  the  Indians 
and  the  peasant  classes  in  general,  the 
cowboys,  ranchmen,  rural  police  and  the 
like.  Studies  of  animal  life  rarely  attract 
him.  Instead,  he  covers  his  canvases  with 
representations  of  historical  episodes,  or  with 
those  of  the  genre  order,  the  subjects  of  which 
are  frequently  suggested  from  Europe.  He 
paints  portraits,  also,  and  occasionally  puts 
forth  a  religious  picture. 

Regarded  in  its  broad  outlines,  the  work 
of  Latin- American  painters,  on  the  technical 
side,  is  characterized  more  by  the  facility 
of  coloring  and  by  tendencies  to  impres- 
sionism than  by  a  solicitous  regard  for  com- 


FINE  ARTS  «4» 

position  and  drawing,  or  by  the  inward  qual- 
ities concerned  in  the  appreciation  of  senti- 
ments and  emotions.  The  external  and  ob- 
vious allurements  of  intensity  in  the  disposi- 
tion of  light  and  shade,  the  temptation  to 
produce  striking,  and,  in  a  measure,  sensa- 
tional effects,  are  what  appear  usually  to 
captivate  their  imagination. 

Still,  in  alluding  to  the  deficiencies  of  both 
sculptors  and  painters  in  Latin  America, 
proper  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  exis- 
tence of  drawbaclcs  not  of  their  own  choos- 
ing. The  faults  are  often  due  to  defective 
conditions  in  their  native  countries,  such 
as  a  lack  of  good  professional  models,  an 
insufficient  number  of  public  museums  or  of 
private  collections,  the  mediocre  quality  of 
most  of  those  actually  available  and  the 
comparative  feebleness  of  financial  incen- 
tives offered  by  local  patrons  of  the  fine  arts. 

Of  the  national  galleries  in  the  capital 
cities,  those  in  Mexico,  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
Santiago,  Caracas  and  Buenos  Ajtcs  are  the 
most  noteworthy.  That  of  Mexico  dates 
from  colonial  times,  and,  in  spite  of  the 
many  vicissitudes  through  which  its  can- 
vases and  sculptures  have  passed,  still  pre- 
serves much  that  is  a  tribute  to  Mexican 
genius.  The  galleries  in  Rio  de  Janeiro 
and  Santiago,  furthermore,  enjoy  the  ad- 
vantage of  being  housed   in   superb   build- 


250  LATIN  AMERICA 

ings,  recently  erected  as  fitting  homes  for 
the  art  treasures  of  the  nations  to  which 
they  belong. 

Although  the  several  collections  in  question 
are  not  comparable  in  any  sense  with  those  to 
be  seen  in  the  great  metropolitan  cities  of 
the  world,  they  are  often  of  considerable 
interest  and  value.  They  contain,  not  only 
choice  examples  of  the  works  of  native 
artists,  but  originals  and  copies  of  produc- 
tions by  many  of  the  celebrated  masters  of 
Europe. 


APPENDIX 

AREA   AND   POPULATION    (1913) 

The  date  in  parentheses  after  the  name  of  each  republic  is 
that  of  its  declaration  of  independence.  In  many  cases  the 
figures  given  for  the  area  and  population  are  approximate 
only. 

Rbfubuc  Abea    Population 

sq.  miles 

Argentine  Republic  (July  9.  1816)    .     1.139,979  6,989,023 

Bolivia  (August  10,  1825) 708.195  2,267,935 

United  States  of  Brazil  (September  7, 

1822  — empire;   November    15,   1889 

—  republic) 3,218,130  20,515,000 

Chile  (January  1.  1818) 291,500  3,500,000 

Colombia  (July  16,  1813) 438,-l36  4,3i»0,000 

Costa  Rica  (September  15,  1821)  .    .    .  23,000  388,266 

Cuba  (April  20,  1898) 44,164  2.161,662 

Dominican  Republic  (December  1, 1821)  19,325  673.611 

Ecuador  (December  11.  1811)    .    .    .    .  116,000  1.500,000 

Guatemala  (September  15,  1821)       .    .  48,290  1,992.000 

Haiti  (January  1,  1804)       10,200  2.000,000 

Honduras  (September  15,  1821)     .    .    .  46,250  553,446 
United  Mexican  States  (September  28, 

1821) 767,097  15,063,207 

Nicaragua  (September  15,  1821)        .    .  49,200  600,000 

Panama  (November  4,  1903)      ....  32,280  419,029 

Paraguay  (June  11,  1811)       171,815  800.000 

Peru  (July  28,  1821) 679,600  4,500,000 

Salvador  (September  15,  1821)      .    .    .  7,225  1,700,000 

Uruguay  (August  28.  1828) 72,210  1,042.686 

United   States   of  Venezuela  (July  5, 

1811)      393.976  2,713.703 


181 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  READERS 


In  the  brief  list  that  follows,  only  books  and  periodicals 
in  English  will  be  mentioned,  and  those  mainly  of  a  general 
character.  Accounts  of  the  institutional,  intellectual  and 
artistic  life  in  Latin  America  are  too  scattered,  or  otherwise 
too  difScult  of  access,  to  warrant  the  insertion  of  more  than 
a  few  titles.  Descriptive  and  statistical  data  bearing  on 
many  of  the  topics  treated  in  the  present  work  will  be  found 
in  the  Bulletin,  handbooks  and  other  publications  of  the 
Pan-American  Union  (Wajhington,  D.  C),  the  chief  official 
source  of  general  information;  in  the  Soiith  American  Supplo' 
ment,  issued  monthly  by  "The  Times"  (London),  and  in  The 
Statesman's  Year  Book. 

Colonial  period  and  wars  of  independence.  E.  G.  Bourne, 
Spain  in  America.  B.  Moses,  South  America  on  the  Eve  of 
Emancipation.  R.  G.  Watson,  Spanish  and  Portuguese  South 
America.  See,  also,  the  appropriate  chapters  in  the  Cam- 
bridge Modern  History.  E.  J.  Payne,  History  of  the  New  World 
called  America  (native  civilization  before  the  arrival  of  the 
Europeans).  A.  Helps,  The  Spanish  Conquest  in  America. 
C.  H.  Haring,  The  Buccaneers  in  the  West  Indies  in  the  Seven- 
teenth Century.  H.  C.  Lea,  The  Inquisition  in  the  Spanish 
Dependencies.  F.  A.  MacNutt,  Bartholomew  de  las  Casas. 
R.  P.  C.  Graham,  A  Vanished  Arcadia  (Jesuit  missions  in 
Paraguay).  S.  Baxter,  Spanish  Colonial  Architecture  in 
Mexico.  A.  H.  Noll  and  H.  P.  McMahon,  The  Life  and  Times 
of  Miguel  Hidalgo  y  Costilla  (revolutionary  movement  in 
Mexico).  F.  L.  Petre,  Simon  Bolivar.  B.  Mitre,  The  Eman- 
cipation of  South  America.  F.  L.  Paxson,  The  Independence  of 
the  South  American  Republics. 

General  history  and  description.  A.  H.  Keane,  Stanford's 
Compendium  of  Geography  and  Travel:  Central  and  South 
America.  F.  Garcia  Calderon,  Latin  America:  Its  Rise  and 
Progress  (from  the  standpoint  of  a  Peruvian) .  James  Bryce, 
South  America:  Observations  and  Impressions  (last  five 
chapters,  good  political  survey  of  the  Latin-American  coun- 
tries as  a  whole).  S.  Bonsai,  The  American  Mediterranean: 
and  F.  Treves,  The  Cradle  of  the  Deep  (the  republics  in  and 
around  the  Caribbean  Sea).  A.  Fortier  and  J.  R.  Ficklen, 
Central  America  and  Mexico.  F.  Palmer,  Central  America 
and  its  Problems.  T.  C.  Dawson,  The  South  American  Repub- 
lics. C.  E.  Akers,  A  History  of  South  America.  R.  P.  Porter, 
The  Ten  Republics.  A.  Ruhl,  The  Other  Americans. 
25i 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  RE.VDERS      253 

Individual  countries.  W.  H.  Koebel,  Argentina.  W.  A. 
Hirst,  Argentina.  M.  R.  Wrip;ht,  Boliria.  P.  Denis,  lirazil. 
G.  F.  S.  EUioL,  Chile.  P.  J.  Eder,  Colombia.  l\.  Villafranca, 
Costa  Rica.  F.  Lindsay,  Cuba.  N.  O.  Winter,  Guatemala. 
C.  R.  Enock,  Mexico.  A.  Edwards,  Panama.  M.  R.  Hardy, 
Paraguay.  C.  R.  Enock,  Peru.  P.  F.  Martin,  Sahador. 
W.  H.  Koebel,  Uruguay.    L.  V.  Dalton,  Venezuela. 

The  constitutions  of  the  Latin-American  countries  will 
be  found  in  J.  I.  Rodriguez,  American  Constitutions.  For  the 
financial  situation,  see  the  annual  report  of  the  Council  of 
the  Corporation  of  Foreign  Bondholders  (London).  Educa- 
tional conditions  are  described  in  P.  Monroe,  An  Encyclopedia 
of  Education.  Accounts  of  ancient  monuments  are  given  in 
L.  Spence,  The  Civilization  of  Ancient  Mexico;  A.  C.  and  A.  P. 
Maudslay,  A  Glimpse  at  Guatemala,  etc.,  and  T.  A.  Joyce, 
South  American  Archaeology.  For  the  intellectual  develop- 
ment see  the  articles  on  Latin-American  literature  in  Warner 's 
Library  of  the  World's  Best  Literature  (Vol.  XV;,  and  the  En- 
cyclopedia Americana;  and  on  Portuguese-Brazilian  literature 
and  Spanish-American  literature  in  The  Ncie  International 
Encyclopedia.  Translations  of  representative  works  in  F. 
Starr,  Readings  from  modern  Mexican  Authors;  R.  Fernandez 
Guardia,  ''Cuentos  ticos"  (short  stories  of  Costa  Rica), 
J.  Isaacs,  Maria,  a  South  American  Romance  (Colombia). 
Fine  arts:  R.  H.  Lamborn,  Mexican  Paintings  and  Painters. 


INDEX 

A,  B,  C  Alliance,  100  state    of    development   of,    241- 

Africa,    27  Ui 

Agriculture,  42, 49,154-155, 157-158  Arts  and  Trades,  schools  of,  197-8 

Alcahala,    43  Audiencia,   25-26,    75 

Alcaldias  mai/ores,  27  Asia,  27 

America,  discoveries  and  settlement  Asiento,  22,  4i6 

of,  9-16  Atacama,  Desert  of,  96 

Americans,  128,  193-194  Areria,  45 

Anchieta,  Jose  de,  59  A yuntamicnto,  27 

Araucaniaas,    29,    90  Ailecs,  11 
Architecture.  245-246 

Area  of  Latin    ^meiica,  107-108  Balboa,  11,   12 

Argentine  Confederation,  92  Banana  cultivation,  158 

Argentine  Republic,  13,  74,  94,  98,  Banks,    1C8-169;  national,lJS 

99,    107,   109.   113,119,   121,125,  Bogota,    25,    201 

127,  131,  141,  151,  152,  155,  168,  Bolfvar,    Sim6n.    75.    85-87,  99 

163-165,   174-179,  181-185,  188-  Bolivia,  12,  25.  42,  75.  94.  97,  107- 

190,   195,  207,  237.  108,  113,  US,  124.  101.  174-176, 

Arica,  97  181,    186-187.    195.   214 

Art,  French  influence  on,  248;  galle-  Boolci,     publication     of,    2S5-436; 

lies,  249-250;  government  aid  to,  sale*  of,  236;   copyright   lystcin, 

MS;    Italian  mfluence   on,    243;  lack  of,  237 


254 


INDEX 


Boundary  disputes,  9S 

Brwil,  13,  15-17.  19,  27,  38,  46. 
48-49,  69,  67.  68,  77,  78,  92, 
94-96,  98,  100,  107,  109,  110, 
112,  118-121,  123,  125-126,  129, 
139,  141,  151-152,  155,  158,  160, 
165,  174-179,  181-190,  195,  201, 
207,  214,  218,  223,  231,  233,  237, 
239,  246 

British  Honduras,  19 

Buccaneers,  18 

Buenos  Ayres,  33,  75,  91,  109,  111, 
123,  140,  201,  206,  208,  210,  213, 
219-220,  226,  242-244,  249 

Business  customs,  170-172 

Cabildo,  27 

Cacao,  production  of,  160 

Calkhr,  156 

Capital,  foreign,  84,  156,  169,  184- 

185;  lack  of,  165 
Capiiidacicmes,    22 
Captaincies,  25,  28 
Caracas,  33,  201,  209,  242,  249 
Casa  de  Contratacion,  43 
Caudillo,    83 

Charitable    institutions,   206-208 
Charqui,  164 
Chile.  19, 13, 19, 25, 75, 90, 94, 96, 97, 

100-101,  107,  109,  113,  118,  121, 

125,  127,  131,  151,  155,  174,  176, 

181-184.  195,  207,  237,  239,  246 
Church,  work  of,  50;  and  State,  139 
Cities,  140 

Citrus  fruits,  cultivation  of,  158-159 
Classes,  social,  131-132 
Clergy,  51 

Climate  of  Latin  America,  109-111 
Code  Napoleon,  150 
Codes,  legal,  150 
Coffee  production,  169-160 
Colombia,   11,   25,   42.   75,   94-95, 

107,    118,    119,    139,    152,    168, 

174-178,  181-182,  188,  239 
Columbus,  Christopher,  9,  24 
Congressmen,     election     of,      148; 

qualifications  of,   148-149 
Conquistadorea,   13 
Conquistas  de  almas,  65 
Conquest,  motives  of  Spanish  for, 

13;  results  of,  14 
Constitutions,    nature    of,    82-83, 

141-142 
Corregimienio),    27 
Cortes,  Hernando,  12 
Council  of  the  Indies,  23 
Costa  Rica,  90,   94,   98,   109,  119, 

125,  131,  158,  174,  175,  195 
Creoles,    33 
Cuba,  76,  94,  95,  119,  125,  131,  141, 

168.  174,  176.  182,  195.  207,  218 


Curat,  51 
Currency,    161-15S 

Demarcation  line,   10 
Deputies,   Chamber  of,   148 
Dias  de  moda,   138 
Diaz,   Porfirio,   95,   225 
Dictators,    86-87,    89 
Doctrineroa,   51 

Dominican  Republic,  94,  101,  102, 
119,  124,  174,  177-178,  181,  185 
Drago  Doctrine,  103 

Ecuador,  12,  25,  75,  90,  107.  119, 
139,  167,  174-176,  188,  214 

Education,  60-«l;  methods  of,  193- 
195;  primary,  199;  professional, 
200-203;   technical,   197-198 

Elections,  144-146 

Employer's  liability,  207 

Encomienda,  40 

Eniradas,  55 

Escoceses,  88 

Estancieros,  132 

Exports,  174-178;  agricultural,  174- 
175;  animal  products,  175;  forest 
products,  176;  mineral,  174 

Fauna.  116-117 

Fazendeiros.  132 

Ferdinand  VII,  72-73 

Fiestas,  56 

Fleet  system,  4^h-46 

Flora,  118-120 

Foreigners,  rights  of,  102-lOS 

Forest  products,  118 

France,  19,  45,  72,  100,  178,  931, 

241-243 
Freemasons,  88 

Gauchos,  131 

Gente  de  razon,  35 

Germany,  Germans,  128,  156,  17S, 

193-194 
Gobemaciones,  26 
Gobiemos,  27 
Government,    Portuguese   colonial, 

27-29;  Spanish  colonial,  20-27 
Governments,    forms    of,    141-143; 

municipal,   153 
Grand  opera,  244 

Great  Britain,  77,  79,  100,  101,  178 
Guanaco,  116 
Guatemala,  12,  90,  94,  98,  102,  114, 

116,  119,  174-175,  177-179,  214 
Guianas,  19 

Haeendados,  182 

Uaciendai,  134 

Hague  Peace  Conference,  100 


INDEX 


^» 


lUlti,  79,  M,  102. 119.  It4. 174. 17S, 

177,  178,  181 
Harbors,    108,    109 
Havana,  83,  140,  210 
Heretics,  84 
Hispaniola,  9,  11 
Honduras,  90,  94,  98,  102,  118,  139, 

174,  176-177,   181,  814 

Jguazii,  falls  of,  116 

imports,  177-179 

Immigrants,  169 

Immigration,  81-84,  126-129 

Incas,  30,  37 

Independence,  British  aid  to,  74; 
character  of  struggle  for,  69-70; 
French  influence  on,  71-72;  recog- 
nition of,  76-77,  79;  United  States 
sympathy  for,  76 

Indians,  civilization  of,  29-30,  39; 
conversion  of,  55-67;  enslave- 
ment of,  31,  36,  40;  instruction  of, 
55-66;  religion  of,  52-54;  social 
relations  of,  35,  36,  88;  treat- 
ment of,  30-31,  36,  39;41,  53-57 

Industries,  government  aid  to,  154- 
155 

Inquisition,  50,  54,  62 

Intendants,  27,  41 

International  law,  212 

Irrigation,  154 

Italy,  Italians,  127.  173,  243 

Juarez,   Benito,   92 
Jesuits,  17,  67-59,  68 
Joao,  78 

Journalism,  65,  215-227 
Judicial  system,  149 
Juntas,  73 

Jurisprudence,  Latin  American, 
149-150 

Labor,  supply  of,  133-135;  lack  of 
skilled,   165 

Las  Casas,  Bartolome  de,  54-55,  59 

Laws  of  the  Indies,  24 

Libraries,    national,    237-238 

Lima,  33,  61,  65,  201 

Literacy,  192 

Literature,  Latin  American,  63-64, 
68,  227-240;  authority  in,  234- 
235;  characteristics  of,  227-228; 
French  influence  on,  231;  Spanish 
influence  on,  229;  subjecta  of,  228- 
229 

Llama,   116 

JjlantTOi,  131 

Lottery,  140 

Mail  service,  191 
Magdlao.  StraiU  of.  ISS 


Maguty,  107 

Mamelucoi,  37 

MaDufacluring,  165-108 

Mayas,  69 

Meat  industry,  184-165 

Mestizo,  S2 

Metric  system,  173 

Mexico,  19,  42,  74,  75,  88,  94,  95. 

93,  101.  107-109,  113,  114,  118. 

120,  123,  128,  129,  139,  141.  154. 

167,  174-176,  178,  182,  185,  195. 

210,  214-216,  225,  237,  239,  243, 

246 
Mexico  City,  83,  62,  172,  184,  205, 

242,  244,  249 
Military  service,   150 
Minas  Geraes,  47 
Minerals,   118 
Mining,  47,   154,   156-157 
Miranda,  Francisco  de,  74 
Missionaries,  61-52 
Mita,  40 

Monroe  Doctrine,  76,  103,  105 
Montesquieu,  71 
Montevideo,    140,   201,   219,  244- 

245 
Mulatto,  32 
Murillo,  67 
Museums,  213-214 

Napoleon,  77 

Napoleon  III,  101 

Negro  slaves,  30,  37,  46,  49,  65,  95 

New  Spain,  26,  60,  73 

Newspapers,   Latin  American,  65— 

66,   215-227;   character  of,   215- 

216;     circulation     of,     218-219; 

dailies,    217-218;    220,    225 
Nicaragua,  11-12,  90,  94,  98,  102, 

107,  112,  114,  118,  167,  174-176, 

181 

Painting,  66-€7,  246,  249;  European 

influence  on,  212 
Pampas,  113,  164 
Panama,  94,  95,  107,111.  189,  175- 

177 
Panama,  Canal,  191;  Congress,  99; 

hats,   167,   175 
Pan-American   Scientific   Congress. 

211 
Pan-Americanism,  105—106 
Pan-American  Union,  106 
Paraguay,    12,   25,   57,   75,   94,   98, 

107-108,  152,  160,  167,  174-179; 

189 
Paulistoi,  16-17 
Pedro  (Emperor)  74-79 
Pedro  II,  Dom,  93 
Petnta,    140 
Peonage,  133-154 


256 


INDEX 


Pergonal    characteristics    of    Latin 

Americans,  135-186 
Peru.  25,  37,  4i,  62,  73,  75,  94,  101, 

118-119,   124,  161,  165,  174-177, 

186,  188,  195,  210,  214,  239 
Philippines,  25 
Pirates,  18 

Pizarro,  Francisco,  12 
Political,  ideas,  85-89;   issues,  146; 

parties,  144-145 
Population,     32-38,     38,     122-123; 

density  of,  121 
Portugal,  9,  10,  17,  18,  27,  48,  49, 

78,  218,  231,  241 
President,  office  of,  140-147;  tenure 

of,  146 
Presidencies,  25 
Printing,  61-83,  77 
Public  debt,  150-151 
Public  opinion,  lack  of,  142 
Pulque,  167 
Puna.  110 

Quetzal,  116 

Race  elements,  125-130;  mixture  of, 
31-32 

Railways,  179,  181-180 

Real  patronaio,  50 

Reductions,  57 

Register  ships,  46 

Remesat  de  Indiat,  43 

Repartimiento,  40 

Republics,  classification,  94 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  109,  125,  140,  201, 
209-210,  212,  214,  219 

River,  systems,  114-116;  navi- 
gation of,  189-190 

Robertson,  71 

Romeria,  56 

Rousseau,  71 

Rubber  industry,  161-16S 

Salvador,  12,  90,  94,  98,  108,  131, 
174,  178 

Saint  Domingue,  79;  French  ex- 
pedition to,  80 

San  Martin,  75 

Santiago  de  Chile,  188,  140,  225- 
226,  242-244,  249 

Sao  Paulo,  15,  16,  160 

Sculpture,  66-67,  246-249;  Euro- 
pean influence  on,  247 

Senate,  148 

Situados,  43 

Smugglers,  18 

Social  service,  306-208 


Societies,  learned,  209-211;  scien- 
tific, 209 

Soroche,  110 

Spain,  Spaniards,  9,  IS,  17-19,  48, 
SO,  72.  77,  80,  173,  216,  241,  243 

Sports,  140 

Stock  raising,  42,  154-156,  163-164 

Student  Congresses,  International, 
204 

Student  life,  203 

SuSrage.  143-144 

Tacna,  97 

Tariii,  173 

Taxation,  43,  48,  lol;  formj  of,  151 

Teachers'  Associations,  199 

TextUes,  166-167 

Tobacco  culture  and  manufacture, 

167-168 
Toussaint  L'Ouverture,  79-80 
Towns,  140 

Trade,  amounts  of.  175-176 
Training  schools  for  teachers,  194, 

200 
Transportation,    charges    for,    180; 

methods  of,  179-180 

Universities,  61,  200-201,  203 

Unitaries,  88 

United  States,  19,  71,  76,  88,  95,  08, 

,  101,  103-107,  114,  123,  170,  177, 
179,  200,  218 

United  States  in  its  relations  to 
Latin  America,  103-106 

Uruguay,  18,  77,  94,  98,  113,  125- 
126,  181.  139,  161,  156,  168,  166, 
175-176.  178-179;  181,  183.  189- 
190,  196,  198,  202,  207,  230 

Valorization  of  coffee,  160 

Vaqueros,  131 

Venezuela.  11.  25.  74.  92,  94,  108, 

141,  174-178,  239.  246 
Vice-President,  146-147 
Viceroy,  26.  29 
Viceroyalties.  25 
Vicufla,  116 
Viaitadores,  23 
Voltaire,  71 

Washington,  peace  conference  at,  08 

Welser,  11 

Women  in  Latin  America,  138-140 

Yerba,  160-161 
Yorkinof,  88 

Zamho,  32 


THE  HOME  UNIVERSITY 

LIBRARY  of  Modern  Knowledge 

Is  made  up  of  absolutely  new  books  by  leading  authorities 

The  editors  are  Professors  Gilbert  Murray,  H,  A,  L, 

Fisher,  W.  T.  Brewster  and  J.  Arthur  Thomson. 

Cloth  bound,  good  paper,  clear  type,  256  pages  per 
volume,  bibliographies,  indices,  also  maps  or  illustra- 
tions, where  needed .    Each  complete 


and  sold  separately. 


^acncompieieq^  . 

Per  volume,  %/Vf  tCUlo. 


LITERATURE  AND  ART. 

[Order 
Number] 

73.  EURIPIDES  AND  HIS  AGE.  By  Gilberl  Murray,  Reghis  Pro- 
fessor  of  Greek,  Oxford. 

101.  DANTE.  By  Jefferson  B.  Fletcher.  Columbia  University.  An  inter- 
pretation of  Dante  and  his  teaching  from  his  writings. 

2.  SHAKESPEARE.  By  John  Masefield.  "One  of  the  very  few  in- 
dispensable  adjuncts  to  a  Shakespearean  Library." — Boston 
Transcript. 

81.    CHAUCER  AND  HIS  TIMES.    By  Grace  E.  Hadow,  Lecturer  Lady 

Margaret  Hall,  Oxford;  Late  Reader,  Bryn  Mawr. 

97.     MILTON.    By  John  Bailey. 

59.  DR.  JOHNSON  AND  HIS  CIRCLE.  By  John  Bailey.  Johnson's  life, 
character,  works,  and  friendships  are  surveyed;  and  there  is  a  notable 
vindication  of  the  "Genius  of  Bos  well." 

83.  WILLIAM  MORRIS:  HIS  WORK  AND  INFLUENCE.  By  A.  Clut- 
lon  Brock,  author  of  "Shelley:  The  Man  and  the  Poet."  William  Morris 
believed  that  the  artist  should  toil  for  love  of  his  work  rather  than  the 
gain  of  his  employer,  and  so  he  turned  from  making  works  of  art  to 
remaking  society. 

75.    SHELLEY,  GODWIN  AND  THEIR  CIRCLE.    By  H.  N.  BraiUford. 

The  influence  of  the  French  Revolution  on  England. 


70.  ANCIENT  ART  AND  RITUAL.  By  Jane  E.  Harrison,  LL.  D.,  D. 
Litt.  "One  of  the  100  most  important  books  of  1913." — New  York, 
Times  Review. 

45.  MEDIEVAL  ENGLISH  LITERATURE.  By  W.  P.  Ker,  Professor 
of  English  Literature,  University  College,  London.  "One  of  the 
soundest  scholars.  His  style  is  effective,  simple,  yet  never  dry." — 
The  Athenaeum. 

87.  THE  RENAISSANCE.  By  Edith  Sichel,  author  of  "Catherine  de 
Medici,"  "Men  and  Women  of  the  French  Renaissance." 

89.    ELIZABETHAN   LITERATURE.     By   J.   M.    Robertson,   M.   P., 

author  of  "Montaigne  and  Shakespeare,"  "Modern  Humanists." 

27.  MODERN  ENGLISH  LITERATURE.  By  G.  H.  Mair.  From  Wyatt 
and  Surrey  to  Synge  and  Yeats.  "One  of  the  best  of  this  great  series." 
— Chicago  Etening  Post. 

61.  THE  VICTORIAN  AGE  IN  LITERATURE.    By  G.  K.  Chesterton. 

40.  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE.  By  L.  P.  Smith.  A  concise  history 
of  its  origin  and  development. 

66.  WRITING  ENGLISH  PROSE.  By  William  T.  Brewster,  Professor 
of  English,  Columbia  University.  "Should  be  put  into  the  hauids 
of  every  man  who  is  beginning  to  write  and  of  every  teacher  of  English 
who  has  brains  enough  to  understand  sense." — New   Yorl^  Sun. 

58.  THE  NEWSPAPER.  By  G.  Binney  Dibblee.  The  first  full  account 
from  the  inside  of  newspaper  organization  as  it  exists  to-day. 

48.    GREAT  WRITERS  OF  AMERICA.    By  W.  P.  Trent  and  John 

Erskine,  Columbia  University. 

93.    AN  OUTLINE  OF  RUSSIAN  LITERATURE.    By  Maurice  Baring, 

author  of  "The  Russian  People,"  etc.  Tolstoi,  Tourgenieff,  Dos- 
toieffsky,  Pushkin  (the  father  of  Russian  Literature,)  Saltykov  (the 
satirist,)  Leskov,  and  many  other  authors. 

31.    LANDMARKS  IN  FRENCH  LITERATURE,  By  G.  L.  Strachey, 

Scholar  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  "It  is  difficult  to  imagine 
how  a  better  account  of  French  Literature  could  be  given  in  250  pages." 
— London  Times. 

64.    THE  LITERATURE  OF  GERMANY.    By  J.  G.  Robertson. 

62.  PAINTERS  AND  PAINTING.    By  Sir  Frederick  Wedraore.    With 

16  half-tone  illustrations. 

38.  ARCHITECTURE.  By  Prof.  W.  R,  Lethaby.  An  introduction  to 
the  history  and  theory  of  the  art  of  building. 


NATURAL  SCIENCE. 

68.    DISEASE  AND  ITS  CAUSES.    By  W.  T.  Councilman,  M.  D., 

LL.  D.,  Professor  of  Pathology,  Harvard  University. 

85.  SEX.  By  J.  Arthur  Thompson  and  Patrick  Geddes,  joint  authors 
of  "The  Evolution  of  Sex." 

71.  PLANT  LIFE.  By  J.  B.  Farmer,  D.  Sc,  F.  R.  S.,  Professor  of  Bot- 
tany  in  the  Imperial  College  of  Science,  London.  This  very  fully 
illustrated  volume  contains  an  account  of  the  salient  features  of  plant 
form  and  function. 

63.  THE  ORIGIN  AND  NATURE  OF  LIFE.  By  Benjamin  M.  Moore, 
Professor  of  Bio-Chemistry,  Liverpool. 

90.  CHEMISTRY.  By  Raphael  Meldola,  F.  R.  S.,  Professor  of  Chem- 
istry, Finsbury  Technical  College.  Presents  the  way  in  which  the 
science  has  developed  and  the  stage  it  has  reached. 

53.  ELECTRICITY.  By  Gisbert  Kapp,  Professor  of  Electrical  En- 
gineering, University  of  Birmingham. 

54.  THE  MAKING  OF  THE  EARTH.  By  J.  W.  Gregory,  Professor  of 
Geology,  Glasgow  University.  38  maps  and  figures.  Describes 
the  origin  of  the  earth,  the  formation  and  changes  of  its  surface  and 
structure,  its  geological  history,  the  first  appearance  of  life,  and  its 
influence  upon  the  globe. 

56.  MAN:  A  HISTORY  OF  THE  HUMAN  BODY.  By  A.  Keith,  M.  D., 
Hunterian  Professor,  Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  London.  Shows 
how  the  human  body  developed. 

74.  NERVES.  By  David  Eraser  Harris,  M.  D.,  Professor  of  Physi- 
ology, Dalhousie  University,  Halifax.  Explains  in  non-technical 
language  the  place  and  powers  of  the  nervous  system. 

21.  AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  SCIENCE.  By  Prof.  J.  Arthur  Thomson, 
Science  Elditor  of  the  Home  University  Library.  For  those  unac- 
quainted with  the  scientific  volumes  in  the  series,  this  should  prove 
an  excellent  introduction. 

14.  EVOLUTION.  By  Prof.  J,  Arthur  Thomson  and  Prof.  Patrick 
Geddes.  Explains  to  the  layman  what  the  title  means  to  the  scien- 
tific world. 

23,  ASTRONOMY.  By  A.  R.  Hinks,  Chief  Assistant  at  the  Cambridge 
Observatory.  "Decidedly  original  in  substance,  and  the  most  readable 
and  informative  little  book  on  modern  astronomy  we  have  seen  for  a 
long    time." — Nature. 

24.  PSYCHICAL  RESEARCH.  By  Prof.  W.  F.  Barrett,  formerly  Presi- 
dent  of  the  Society  for  Psychical  Research. 

9.  THE  EVOLUTION  OF  PLANTS.  By  Dr.  D.  H.  Scott,  President 
of  the  Linnean  Society  of  London.  The  story  of  the  development 
of  flowering  plants,  from  the  earliest  zoological  times,  unlocked  from 
technical  language. 


43.  MATTER  AND  ENERGY.  By  F.  Soddy,  Lecturer  in  Physical 
Chemistry  and  Radioactivity,  University  of  Glasgow.  "Brilliant. 
Can  hardly  be  surpassed.  Sure  to  attract  attention." — New  York, 
Sun. 

41.  PSYCHOLOGY,  THE  STUDY  OF  BEHAVIOUR.  By  William  Mc- 
DougaH,  of  Oxford.  A  well  digested  summary  of  the  essentials  of  the 
science  put  in  excellent  literary  form  by  a  leading  authority. 

42.  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  PHYSIOLOGY.    By  Prof.  J.  G.  McKendrick, 

A  compact  statement  by  the  Emeritus  Professor  at  Glasgow,  for 
uninstructed  readers. 

37.  ANTHROPOLOGY.  By  R.  R.  Marelt,  Reader  in  Social  Anthro- 
pology, Oxford.  Seeks  to  plot  out  and  sum  up  the  general  series  of 
changes,  bodily  and  mental,  undergone  by  man  in  the  course  of 
history.  "Excellent.  So  enthusiastic,  so  clear  and  witty,  and  so 
well  adapted  to  the  general  reader." — American  Library  Association 
Booklist. 

17.  CRIME  AND  INSANITY.  By  Dr.  C.  Mercier,  author  of  "Crime 
and  Criminals,"  etc. 

12.    THE  ANIMAL  WORLD.    By  Prof.  F.  W.  GambU. 

15.    INTRODUCTION  TO  MATHEMATICS.     By  A.  N.  Whitehead, 

author  of  "Universal  Algebra." 

PHILOSOPHY  AND  RELIGION. 

69.  A  HISTORY  OF  FREEDOM  OF  THOUGHT.  By  John  B.  Bury, 
M.  A.,  LL.  D.,  Regius  Professor  of  Modern  History  in  Cambridge 
University.  Summarizes  the  history  of  the  long  struggle  between 
authority  and  reason  and  of  the  emergence  of  the  principle  that  co- 
ercion of  opinion  is  a  mistake. 

96.    A  HISTORY  OF  PHILOSOPHY.    By  Clement  C.  J.  Webb,  Oxford. 

35.    THE  PROBLEMS  OF  PHILOSOPHY.    By  Bertrand  Russell,  Lee 

turer  and  Late  Fellow,  Trinity  College,  Cambridge. 

60.  COMPARATIVE  RELIGION.  By  Prof.  J.  EsUin  Carpenter.  "One 
of  the  few  authorities  on  this  subject  compares  all  the  religions  to 
see  what  they  have  to  offer  on  the  great  themes  of  religion." — Chris- 
tian Work  and  Evangelist. 

44.  BUDDHISM.  By  Mrs.  Rhys  Davids,  Lecturer  on  Indian  Philoso- 
phy, Manchester. 

46-  ENGLISH  SECTS:  A  HISTORY  OF  NONCONFORMITY.  By  W.  B. 
Selbie.    Principal  of  Manchester  College,  Oxford. 


55.  MISSIONS:  THEIR  RISE  AND  DEVELOPMENT.  By  Mrs.  Man- 
dell  Creighton,  author  of  "History  of  England."  The  author  seeks  to 
prove  that  missions  have  done  more  to  civilize  the  world  than  any 
other  human  agency. 

52.  ETHICS.  By  G.  E.  Moore,  Lecturer  in  Moral  Science.  Cambridge. 
Discusses  what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong,  and  the  whys  and  where- 
fores. 

65.  THE  LITERATURE  OF  THE  OLD  TESTAMENT.  By  George  F. 
Moore.  Professor  of  the  History  of  Religion,  Harvard  University  "A 
popular  work  of  the  highest  order.  Will  be  profitable  to  anybody 
who  cares  enough  about  Bible  study  to  read  a  serious  book  on  the 
subject." — American  Journal  of  Theology. 

88.  RELIGIOUS  DEVELOPMENT  BETWEEN  OLD  AND  NEW  TESTA- 
MENTS.  By  R.  H.  Charles,  Canon  of  Westminster.  Shows  how 
religious  and  ethical  thought  between  180  B.  C.  and  100  A.  D.  grew 
naturally  into  that  of  the  New  Testament. 

50.    THE  MAKING  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    By  B.  W.  Bacon. 

Professor  of  New  Testament  Criticism,  Yale.  An  authoritative 
summary  of  the  results  of  modern  critical  research  with  regard  to 
the  origins  of  the  New  Testament. 

SOCIAL  SCIENCE. 


91.  THE  NEGRO.  By  W.  E.  Burghardt  DuBois,  author  of  "Souls  of 
Black  Folks,"  etc.  A  history  of  the  black  man  in  Africa,  America  or 
wherever  else  his  presence  has  been  or  is  important. 

77.  CO-PARTNERSHIP  AND  PROFIT  SHARING.  By  Aneurin  Wil- 
liams, Chairman,  Executive  Committee,  International  Co-opera- 
tive Alliance,  etc.  Explains  the  various  types  of  co-partnership  and 
profit-sharing,  and  gives  details  of  the  arrangements  now  in  force  in 
many  of  the  great  industries. 

99.  POLITICAL  THOUGHT:  THE  UTILITARIANS.  FROM  BENT- 
HAM  TO  J.  S.  MILL,     By  WiUiam  L.  P.  Davidson. 

98.  POLITICAL  THOUGHT:  FROM  HERBERT  SPENCER  TO  THE 
PRESENT  DAY.    By  Ernest  Barker,  M.  A. 

79.  UNEMPLOYMENT.  By  A.  C.  Pigou.  M.  A.,  Professor  of  Political 
Exonomy  at  Cambridge.  The  meaning,  measurement,  distribution, 
and  effects  of  unemployment,  its  relation  to  wages,  trade  fluctuations, 
and  disputes,  and  some  proposals  of  remedy  or  relief. 


80.    COMMON-SENSE  IN  LAW.    By  Prof.  Paul  Vinogradoff.D.  C.  L., 

LL.  D.  Social  and  Legal  Rules — Legal  Rights  and  Duties — Facts 
and  Acts  in  Law — Legislation — Custom — Judicial  Precedents — Equity 
— The  Law  of  Nature. 

49.    ELEMENTS  OF  POLITICAL  ECONOMY.    By  S.  J.  Chapman, 

Professor  of  Political  Economy  and  Dean  of  Faculty  of  Commerce 
and  Administration,  University  of  Manchester. 

11.  THE  SCIENCE  OF  WEALTH.  By  J.  A.  Hobson,  author  of  "Prob- 
lems  of  Poverty."  A  study  of  the  structure  and  working  of  the  modern 
business  world. 

1.  PARLIAMENT.  ITS  HISTORY,  CONSTITUTION,  AND  PRAC« 
TICE.    By  Sir  Courtenay  P.  Ilbert,  Clerk  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

15.  LIBERALISM.  By  Prof.  L.  T.  Hobhouse,  author  of  "Democracy  and 
Reaction."  A  masterly  philosophical  and  historical  review  of  the  subject. 

5.  THE  STOCK  EXCHANGE.    By  F.  W.  Hirst,  Editor  of  the  London 

Economist.  Reveals  to  the  non-financial  mind  the  facts  about  invest- 
ment, speculation,  and  the  other  terms  which  the  title  suggests. 

10.  THE  SOCIALIST  MOVEMENT.  By  J.  Ramsay  Macdonald,  Chair- 
man of  the  British  Labor  Party. 

28.  THE  EVOLUTION  OF  INDUSTRY.  By  D.  H.  MacGregor,  Professor 
of  Political  Economy,  University  of  Leeds.  An  outline  of  the  recent 
changes  that  have  given  us  the  present  conditions  of  the  working  classes 
and  the  principles  involved. 

29.  ELEMENTS  OF  ENGLISH  LAW.  By  W.  M.  Geldart,  Vinerian 
Professor  of  English  Law,  Oxford.  A  simple  statement  of  the  basic 
principles  of  the  English  legal  system  on  which  that  of  the  United 
States  is  based. 

32.  THE  SCHOOL:  AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE  STUDY  OF  EDU- 
CATION.  By  J.  J.  Findlay,  Professor  of  Education,  Manchester. 
Presents  the  history,  the  psychological  basis,  and  the  theory  of  the 
school  with  a  rare  power  of  summary  and  suggestion. 

6.  IRISH  NATIONALITY.  By  Mrs.  J.  R.  Green.  A  brilliant  account 
of  the  genius  and  mission  of  the  Irish  people.  "An  entrancing  work, 
»nd  I  would  advise  every  one  with  a  drop  of  Irish  blood  in  his  veins 
or  a  vein  of  Irish  sympathy  in  his  heart  to  read  it." — New  York  Times 
Rtokw. 


GENERAL  HISTORY  AND  GEOGRAPHY. 

102.  SERBIA.    By  L.  F.  Waring,  with  preface  by  J.  M.  JovanoTitch, 

Serbian  Minister  to  Great  Britain.  The  main  outlinei  of  Serbian 
history,  with  special  emphasis  on  the  immediate  causes  of  the  war, 
and  the  question  which  will  be  of  greatest  importance  in  the  after- 
the-war  settlement. 

33.  THE  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND.  By  A.  F.  Pollard,  Professor  of 
English  History,  University  of  London. 

95.  BELGIUM.  By  R.  C.  K.  Ensor,  Sometime  Scholar  of  Balliol  College . 
The  geographical,  linguistic,  historical,  artistic  and  literary  associa- 
tions. 

100.  POLAND.  By  J.  Alison  Phillips,  University  of  Dublin.  The  history 
of  Poland  with  special  emphasis  upon  the  Polish  qustion  of  the  pre- 
sent day. 

34.  CANADA.    By  A.  G.  Bradley. 

72.    GERMANY  OF  TO-DAY.    By  Charles  Tower. 

78.  LATIN  AMERICA.  By  William  R.  Shepherd,  Professor  of  His- 
tory,  Columbia.  With  maps.  The  historical,  artistic,  and  commercial 
development  of  the  Central  South  American  republics. 

18.  THE  OPENING  UP  OF  AFRICA.    By  Sir  H.  H.  Johnston. 

19.  THE  CIVILIZATION  OF  CHINA.    By  H.  A.  GUes,  Professor  of 

Chinese,  Cambridge. 

36.  PEOPLES  AND  PROBLEMS  OF  INDIA.  By  Sir  T.  W.  Holdemess, 
"The  best  small  treatise  dealing  with  the  range  of  subjects  fairly  in- 
dicated by  the  title." — The  Dial. 

26.  THE  DAWN  OF  HISTORY.  By  J.  L.  Myers,  Professor  of  Ancient 
History,  Oxford. 

92.  THE  ANCIENT  EAST.  By  D.G.  Hogarth,  M.  A.,  F.  B.  A.,  F.  S.  A., 
Connects  with  Prof.  Myers's  "Dawn  of  History"  (No.  26)  at  about 
1000  B.  C.  and  reviews  the  history  of  Assyria,  Babylon,  Cilicia,  Persia 
and  Macedon. 

30.    ROME.    By  W.  Warde  Fowler,  author  of  "Social  Life  at  Rome,"  etc. 

13.    MEDIEVAL  EUROPE.    By  H.  W.  C.  Davis,  Fellow  at  Balliol  Col- 
lege, Oxford,  author  of  "Charlemagne,"  etc. 
3.    THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION.    By  HUaire  Belloc. 

57.  NAPOLEON,  By  H.  A.  L.  Fisher,  Vice-Chancellor  of  Sheffield  Uni- 
versity.   Author  of  "The  Republican  Tradition  in  Europe." 

20.  HISTORY  OF  OUR  TIME.  (1885-1911).    By  C.  P.  Gooch. 

22.  THE  PAPACY  AND  MODERN  TIMES.  By  Re?.  WilUain  Barry, 
D.  D.,  author  of  "The  Papal  Monarchy,"  etc.  The  story  of  the  rise  and 
(all  of  the  Temporal  Power. 


4.    A  SHORT  HISTORY  OF  WAR  AND  PEACE.    By  G.  H.  Perrii 

author  of  "Russia  in  Revolution,"  etc. 

94.  THE  NAVY  AND  SEA  POWER.  By  David  Hannay,  author  of  "Short 
History  of  the  Royal  Navy,"  etc.  A  brief  history  of  the  navies,  sea 
Power,  and  ship  growth  of  all  nations,  including  the  rise  and  decline 
of  America  on  the  sea,  and  explaining  the  present  British  supremacy. 
8.  POLAR  EXPLORATION.  By  Dr.  W.  S.  Bruce,  Leader  of  the 
"Scotia"  expedition.    Emphasizes  the  results  of  the  expeditions. 

51.  MASTER  MARINERS.  By  John  R.  Spears,  author  of  "The  Hit- 
tory  of  Our  Navy,"  etc.  A  history  of  sea  craft  adventure  from  the 
earliest  times. 

86.    EXPLORATION  OF  THE  ALPS.    By  Arnold  Lunn,  M.  A. 
7.    MODERN  GEOGRAPHY.    By  Dr.  Marion  Newbigin.    Shows  the  re- 
lation of  physical  features  to  living  things  and  to  some  of  the  chief  in- 
stitutions of  civilization. 

76.  THE  OCEAN.  A  GENERAL  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  SCIENCE  OF 
THE  SEA.  By  Sir  Jobi  Murray.'K.  C.  B.,  Naturalist  H.  M.  S.  "Chal 
lenger,"  1872-1876,  joint  author  of  "The  Depths  of  the  Ocean,"  etc. 

84.  THE  GROWTH  OF  EUROPE.  By  Granville  Cole,  Professor  of 
Geology,  Royal  College  of  Science,  Ireland.  A  study  of  the  geology 
and  physical  geography  in  connection  with  the  political  geography. 

AMERICAN  HISTORY. 


47.  THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD  (1607-1766).  By  Charles  McLean  An- 
drews, Professor  of  American  History,  Yale. 

82.  THE  WARS  BETWEEN  ENGLAND  AND  AMERICA  (1763-1815). 
By  Theodore  C.  Smith,  Professor  of  American  History,  Williams 
College.  A  history  of  the  period,  with  especial  emphasis  on  The  Re- 
volution and  The  War  of  1812. 

67.  FROM  JEFFERSON  TO  LINCOLN  (1815-1860).  By  WUliam  Mac 
Donald.  Professor  of  History,  Brown  University.  The  author  makes 
the  history  of  ihis  period  circulate  about  constitutional  ideas  and  slavery 
sentiment. 

25.  THE  CIVIL  WAR  (1854-1865).  By  Frederick  L.  Paxson,  Professor 
of  American  History,  University  of  Wisconsin. 

69.  RECONSTRUCTION  AND  UNION  (1865-1912).  By  Paul  Leiand 
Haworth.    A  History  of  the  United  States  in  our  own  times. 

OTHER  VOLUMES  IN  PREPARATION 

HENRY  HOLT  AND  COMPANY 

19  West  44th  Street  New  York 


fT 


^      Cr 


X 


Pa. 


3  1205  02575  2658      S^epherc 


Of. 

UCSOUlHIHf'J  HlMiif.Al   :t|;liMfr  f -M  U  ITY 


^c^a  I  5" 


t 


